Sunday Night Sample - Outkast - SpottieOttieDopaliscious

Daaaamn daaaamn daaaamn daaaamn.

I'm in Savannah for the weekend, (first time, man oh man what an incredible city), and have had Outkast playing the soundtrack in my head the whole time walking around.

So we're doing "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" tonight.

In 1994, OutKast released their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, which was recorded when members Big Boi and André 3000 were 18. Bolstered by the success of "Player's Ball", the record established OutKast as prominent figures in the Southern hip hop scene. The album was certified platinum, resulting in label LaFace Records realizing OutKast knew what the fuck they were doing, and granting them far more creative control over their next project. They also advanced more money for the 1996 follow-up album ATLiens. 

On ATLiens, André 3000 and Big Boi abandoned the "hard-partying playa characters" of their debut album in favor of personas that were more futuristic, and produced many of the songs on their own for the first time. Critics praised the group's maturing musical style on the record, which debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and sold nearly 350,000 copies in its first 2 weeks of release. The single "Elevators (Me & You)" reached number 12 and spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

For Aquemini, the duo used live instrumentation and improvisation, bringing a baby grand piano into the studio and hiring musicians who played "everything from stoner funk to prog rock". Producer Neal H. Pogue recalled, "That was the beauty of making all those records – having musicians come in and out. It was almost like a Motown, that's what we had. Or like a Stax Records thing. That's what I loved about it. It brought back that whole feeling of making records. It was organic." Much of the music on Aqueminiwas formulated during jam sessions, in which one musician would begin with creating a chord pattern and the rest would incorporate their instruments following that sequence. While recording Aquemini, André 3000 drew influence from reggae music and listened to Bob Marley constantly during the sessions.After the musical aspects of a song were developed, André 3000 and Big Boi would then create lyrics that they felt would fit with the tone of the song.

"SpottieOttieDopaliscious" was the twelth track on the album, and relates a story of ill-fated romance, with André 3000 describing the infatuation during an encounter with a woman at a club and Big Boi noting the hopelessness of the relationship as the song progresses.

"Redemptive tales from the 'hood, spit over Earth, Wind & Fire horns and Curtis Mayfield guitar chords. Part blaxploitation theme song, part Black Poets' anthem - all the way pimped out."

“SpottieOttieDopaliscious” is a soulful, funky horn-filled jam inspired by Reggae vibes and Good Times. André gave some background on the track:

"The song started with a sample I’d chopped up. I was vibing on reggae stuff at the time, listening to a lot of Bob Marley.

Iceberg Slim used to put out albums talking on beats and I was like, “This is cool.” I think I laid down my verse first and Big just came in. But instead of spoken word, Big likes to call it “smokin' word.” That was his smokin' word."

André also revealed that another artist was potentially going to be on this song:

"We were riding in the car and Erykah [Badu] was originally supposed to be on “SpottieOttie” and somehow it ended up working out where she fit better on [“LIberation”]. So she went off and wrote her thing and ended up coming back with something cool."

Instead, we got Sleepy Brown but holy fuck imagine if Andre's baby mama was on this song?

The song Andre had in mind to sample was an older Genesis record, "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight".

SAMPLE - Genesis - Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

(found at 1:30 mark)

Hornz Unlimited did the iconic horns that stand out and make the song what it is. 

Possibly the greatest horn placement in a song ever.

Engineer Preston Crump remembers- 

"Dre wanted us to give it a reggae feel. I think that's another bass line that I wasn't told what to play. That was one of my favorites. When I heard what Sleepy sang on it, I couldn't stop giving him dap. When I heard what Sleepy sang on it, I couldn't stop giving him dap. I was like, "Man, you ain't do another verse?" But I guess that one was so good, you didn't need another one."

The drums are sampled from Sly & The Family Stone's "Rock Dirge"

SAMPLE - Sly & The Family Stone- Rock Dirge

Tempo change of course but it's crazy how two completely different songs could have elements taken from each to create something totally new and amazing. The Outkast spoken word flair just put it over the top.

One of the best songs ever, off one of the best albums ever, by one of the best groups ever. God can we please get an Outkast reunion album/tour?