Big Boi: Sir Lucious Left Foot, The Son of Chico Dusty

Quick, I say "Outkast" you say...? Based on your response, it is quite easy to see where you stand with arguably the most decorated hip hop group ever.

For instance (time to stereotype)...

If you said "Bombs Over Baghdad" or "I'm sorry Ms Jackson, OOooOO", you most likely were introduced to the group in the early 2000's via 10x.x fm or "We used to play Music, now we're teen reality capital of the world" TV.

If you said... "Me and You, Yo Mamma and Yo Cousin too", I'm sure you have memories of listening to Andre and Big Boi at family cookouts while swatting flies away from your watermelon and telling your uncle to stop bending the spades cards.

If you said... "I like the way you move" or started counting "1, 2, 3!" and jumping around as a prelude to "Hey Ya!" you've undoubtedly danced in the club to a few of their bigger mainstream hits and are probably wondering why they spell it with a "K" as opposed to the grammatically correct way.

Whatever your response, I can almost guarantee that the first thing that came to mind was NOT "Oh Outkast, Big Boi and... geeze, I can never remember that other guy." Because for the last 15+ years, Big Boi (real name Antwan Patton) has been that other guy. Andre Benjamin has always taken center stage and left Big Boi as the Robin to Batman, Odie to Garfield, weird little monkey to Captain Planet, and possibly rightfully so. His exotic appearance mixed with his lyrical prowess has set him far and above those artists whose names don't end in "ay-z", so it is no wonder he was the creative driving force behind the Atliens we know as Outkast...

... or was he?

This year Mr. Patton eagerly attempts to dispel assumptions that he was riding on Andre 3000's coat tail and after 65 minutes of listening to his first official solo LP "Sir Lucious Left Foot, The Son of Chico Dusty", I for one am more than convinced. It must be noted that this album suffered from industry politics which kept it at bay for more than a few years (the first single, "Royal Flush, was released 4 years ago and didn't make the final cut) but we will skip all the remaining rigamarole and get into this well crafted piece.

The first thing that jumps out of the speakers and grabs you by the ear lobe is the tight, crisp production throughout the album. The LP reads like a book from start to finish, with Big Boi seizing an early opportunity to remind everyone who he is on "Daddy Fat Sax..."

"My daddy told me it was mine for the taking
A true gift from God, the stars aligned when they made me
Him and Rena's baby, their 1st born son
I'm Antwan Andre Patton, the only one.
Bloodline of a champion with heart of the lion
I'm defying all the laws like a caterpillar flying"

Big Boi's flow lays down so smooth on the hard hitting southern beat, it's almost possible to miss what I think is his often overlooked lyrical talent. Which can be very very costly when listening to the remainder of this short story of Antwan Patton. The thing that stuck out to me the most about this album is probably a gift and a curse at the same time... Big Boi sticks very true to his roots in the south and in the Dungeon Family sound. To me, that's a very refreshing gift, growing up with songs like "Players Ball" and "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik" (deep breath), I appreciate songs like "Fo Yo Sorrows" and "Night Night" and even "Shine Blockas" though Gucci Mane totally killed that song for me. To some, who joined Outkast in the "Stankonia" days these southern drawl sounding tracks may be a monotonous deterent.

In any event, my favorite track on the album features an appearance from Neil Garrard who I have honestly never heard of before this so feel free to let me know how famous he is and how out of touch I am to not know him.

"With one stroke of the pen I tune in to your satellite radio or FM station
I've been patiently waiting to weigh in
Been under construction for two years
But now it's about that time that I double dutch my way in..."

From there Big Boi continues to remind everyone what it is to be a true MC, discrediting those who "fake the funk" and encouraging people to keep it real.

"But nobody wants to keep it pimpin'
Or 110 so with this pen I begin to illustrate from within"

If there's one thing that Antwan does very well, it's keep it real. Nowhere on the album does he hide is love for women, cars, and the dirty dirty south. But in doing so you can only sense his passion for the music he uses to convey his messages. And while I wouldn't play the ouvertly sexual "Tangerine" lounging around the house with my mother, I can easily listen to this album start to finish with no hesitation.

As Big Boi puts his best foot, presumably his left foot, forward it is easy to see that labeling him "the other guy" can only be a testament to how talented the highly accepted duo are. Give the album and listen and see if your response doesn't change the next time you hear someone say "Outkast!"


"Follow Us - Feat. Neil Garrard"