Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Rumors - After listening through the album this is how I think the project came about: During his performance at Pitchfork, Big Boi sat in on a bunch of bands and wrote down a bunch of names to contact later with the hopes of snagging them for a new project. Big Boi who was desperately looking for fresh ideas decided that he'd just call up every single person on the list and whomever contacted him back he'd put on the album.
Sir Luscious Left Foot was a popular album because it was hip and fresh, so why not take that concept to the next level, he thought to himself. I'll just throw everything in, order it somehow so that the composition isn't too jarring and call it an album. I'm going to steal B.O.B.'s swag, give it a little soul, and actually succeed in selling some units. Shit I might even get a grammy, bitch I was in Outkast.
The album has some good songs on it for sure, but the cuts that work best are those that are the most reigned-in. Little Dragon works well on a few tracks, but I believe the old-school collaborators are the ones that still prove to mesh the best with Big Boi. And once you get past the luster of the tracks, and begin to examine the album as a whole everything falls apart. It is a messy,directionless amalgam of over-produced brain-mush that lacks any sort of emotional impact. Everyone involved is quite talented, and they all work well when examined singularly, but there are just too many people on stage and the spotlight is overwhelming.
6/10