After an extended sabbatical, The Aughts Hot or Not is back with the heat of 1,000 suns.

When it was time to fire up the AHN machine, we had to bring the goods. These guys are some of the most creative lyricists and performers of both the early aughts and today.

We’re talking the ATLiens, AKA Two Shades Deep, Big Boi and André 3000…that’s right, we’re reviewing OutKast’s 2001 hit “The Whole World.”

Music Video

OutKast has never been afraid to do something different. This music video lived up to that hype. If we were able to crawl inside the incredible minds of Big Boi and André 3000 we would guess they were thinking “sexy 1930’s carnival,” which is the most OutKast thing ever.

André 3000 starting with clown face paint that evolved into an Encanto character and early Justin Bieber hair (way before their time, these guys), Big Boi working one of those Bruce Buffer brick microphones that hangs down on a cord from the ceiling, and all of the scantily clad trapeze artists and women getting cut in half than you could shake a stick at. This video may have been the inspiration for the entire Stefon character on SNL.

Best Lyric

Hate, extreme prejudice, let’s dismiss this
If you want to, you can dub it to your hit list
I know you gon’ to, we in this to replenish yo’ musical wishlist
When it come to this music, we stay relentless
Pursuing all that’s persuable
Doing God’s willing, all things that are doable
The only liable limitation is yourself
Dre set it on the right and I’ll set it on the left ’cause

This is cheating because it’s Big Boi’s entire verse near the end of the song but…it’s my blog so who cares.

Just a classic silky smooth section of prose here. It’s really next level how many flowy rhymes they can fit into each line, almost like they build them on top of each other (ex: if you want to/I know you gon’ to) followed by the end of each line’s rhymes, which any schmuck can do (see our recurring Sunday State of Mind posts every Sunday!)

Worst Lyric

Glitter, glisten, gloss, floss
I catch a beat runnin’ like Randy Moss
Ride that bitch off like a brand new horse
I’m rollin’ my stones, gatherin’ no moss

This is actually from Killer Mike, who’s featured on the track, so the ATLiens aren’t even to blame here.

I am (shockingly) not a professional writer or lyricists, but you simply cannot rhyme “Moss” with “moss.” I will die on this hill. Especially on a feature with one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time. Using the same word is always a miss.

Rating

On top of my eternal admiration for OutKast, “The Whole World” won a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. If that’s not enough to sway the vote, I don’t know what would be. This, like most of Big Boi and André 3000’s content, ranks up there for me.

Rating: 9 Carson Daly’s