【譯文】Pitchforks kris ex on OutKasts Stankonia

導言：

本文是Pitchfork作者kris ex於2018年2月11日為OutKast的經典專輯Stankonia所撰寫的樂評，對於這張專輯，他給出了9.5分（滿分10分）的評分。本文大致分為兩個部分：前半部分是對OutKast音樂生涯頭三張專輯的回顧，後半部分通過對專輯中部分曲目的著重分析，揭示了OutKast第四張專輯Stankonia的最大特點：融會貫通、包羅萬象。

鑒於本人英語水平有限，且嘻哈音樂中多引各類地道俚語、文字遊戲，故本文所提及的歌詞，暫時不予翻譯，以免造成誤導；不便之處，敬請諒解。

專輯：Stankonia

藝術家：OutKast

發表日期：2000年10月31日

What could』ve been a victory lap for two Southern rappers on top of the game was instead a transcendental funk fantasia, an unequivocal commercial and artistic triumph.

本來也許只是兩位頂尖南部饒舌歌手的又一次值得繞場慶祝的勝利，最後卻演變成一部超驗的放克幻想曲、一場不容置疑地叫好又叫座的偉大演出。

They always had chips on their shoulders, a grievance born of their distinctive authorship mixed with the civic pride of scrappy underdogs. They were André 「3000」 Benjamin and Antwan 「Big Boi」 Patton, but they went by an increasing array of colorful names—like Possum Aloysius Jenkins and Daddy Fat Sax—which seemed to exist only to expand minds and expectations while capturing the ideas that emanated from their craniums. They had emerged from southwest Atlanta with styles that were unforeseen, but quickly copied—the Kangol hats they wore in the video for 「Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik」 were soon seen atop the domes of Sean 「Diddy」 Combs and the Notorious B.I.G. after having been out of vogue for years. On the intro to Stankonia—their fourth album, a thrill-pushing auricular splattering of mindfunks and ideascapes—they mimicked those copying them by playfully reinterpreting the Atlanta 「bounce」 that had been spreading as the distraction of babies. Big Boi exhaled smoke and lamented, 「Niggas ain』t even from the A-Town.」

他們的肩上總撒落著薯片屑，他們的創作里總蘊含著與生俱來似的不滿情緒——這種不滿夾雜著來自好鬥的受壓迫者的公民尊嚴。他們就是：Andre 「3000」 Benjamin和Antwan「Big Boi」 Patton。兩人還有一堆奇奇怪怪的綽號和稱呼，像是Possum Aloysius Jenkins和Daddy Fat Sax；非要解釋這些名字的話，似乎也只能說它們是創作過程中發散思維、拓展思路和記錄靈感等一系列行為的產物。他們來自亞特蘭大的西南部地區，無論是音樂上還是視覺藝術上，他們的風格都獨特得前所未有。不過這很快就引來了他人的模仿，像是他們在Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik的MV里所戴的袋鼠帽子，在該MV發表不久後就被Sean 「Diddy」 Combs和the Notorious B.I.G.這樣的風雲人物應用到打扮穿戴之中，雖說這種帽子上一次見諸時尚雜誌vogue已經是很久以前的事情了。在Stankonia——他們那張火花四濺、令人聽得瞠目結舌的第四張專輯——的第一首曲目intro中，他們反過來模仿了那些模仿他們的人，半開玩笑地將「亞特蘭大bounce」新解為逗嬰兒玩、分散嬰兒注意力的動作*。（在曲目的最後）Big Boi吸了口煙，憤憤道：「他們都不是亞特蘭大這塊的人（壓根不懂真正的bounce）。」

*the Atlanta bounce：即the Bankhead dance move，一種起源於亞特蘭大市Bankhead區的舞蹈動作，舞者隨著音樂節拍的變化上下聳動肩膀。

Identity and location—and defining and observing the two on their own terms—have always been key with OutKast. All of their albums began with a disembodied intro track as a prelude, followed by a State of the OutKast declaration that proved that, as André would famously go on to say at the 1995 Source Awards, 「the South got something to say.」 Tellingly, André confessed, 「I gots a lot of shit up on my mind,」 on 「Myintrotoletuknow」 from their 1994 debut Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. Their voices spat out harsh rhymes and stretched out melodic moments, but they also spoke about things widely and deeply, respecting and commenting on everything going on hip-hop, largely by ignoring everything going on in hip-hop. Their sonic brashness and directness had Public Enemy』s Chuck D in its DNA, their fashion had antecedents in the Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five meeting Afrika Bambaataa』s Soul Sonic Force, the subversive whimsy of De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest were their forebears, giving the group a musical intensity and breadth incomparable to any other major hip-hop act before or since. Those are weighty statements, but OutKast was OutKast—singular, inimitable, and unpredictable.

身份和地區情結一直是OutKast的作品裡不可或缺的一部分，仔細研究他們對於這種情結的態度也有助於我們理解OutKast的作品。他們所有的專輯都以一首沒有任何實際意義的短曲目作為開場曲，開場過後就是OutKast的音樂宣言——就像Andre在1995年的Source Awards上發表的著名言論一樣，宣告：「（我們）南方佬有話要跟你們講。」就像Andre在收錄於他們1994年發表的處女作專輯Southernplaylisticadillacmuzik的歌曲Mvintrotoletuknow中所坦白的那樣，顯而易見，「我腦子裡的想法可太他媽多了。」他們的歌聲緊跟著粗糲的節奏和美妙的旋律，但同時他們的歌詞內容也寬泛而深刻，表面上看好像沒有在討論嘻哈，實際上卻無時無刻不在討論嘻哈。他們的音樂粗莽、直白，骨子裡繼承了Public Enemy成員Chuck D的風格基因。他們的時尚觀念複雜多元：直達靈魂的聲響力量，像是Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five*遇上了Afrika Bambaataa**；你還能聽出De La Soul***和A Tribe Called Quest****的作品裡那種顛覆性的奇思妙想對Outkast的影響。以上一切，給予了OutKast的作品無與倫比的音樂張力與包容性，而這在主流嘻哈歷史中是前無古人、後無來者的。如上都是有根有據的陳述，但說到底OutKast就是OutKast：獨一無二，無法模仿，總是出人意料。

*Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five：著名嘻哈團體，對早期嘻哈音樂的發展貢獻良多，是第一支被引介入搖滾名人堂的嘻哈團體。

**Afrika Bambaataa：著名DJ、音樂人，被尊稱為嘻哈文化之阿蒙神。

***De La Soul：著名嘻哈團體，以不拘一格的採樣與古怪離奇的歌詞聞名。

****A Tribe Called Quest：著名嘻哈團體，被認為是另類嘻哈的先鋒和開拓者。

Their debut was an album bursting with the funk descended from the Isley Brothers, Isaac Hayes, and Curtis Mayfield in a way that was smoother than Dr. Dre』s G-funk stylings, more organic than Puff Daddy』s wholesale sampling of 』80s R&B, and more fluid and adventurous than hometown icon Jermaine Dupri』s sleek soul and pop arrangements. It was the music of Southern hip-hop, the 「country rap tunes」 pioneered by the late Pimp C, outfitted to a weary worldview that was cautious and specific about local dealings and paranoid about the greater world, but ultimately hopeful on universal levels—or, at least as hopeful as 「Crumblin』 Erb」 while 「niggas killin』 niggas」 can be.

他們的處女作專輯充盈著從the Isley Brothers*、Isaac Hayes**和Curtis Mayfield***那裡繼承下來的funk風格，它比Dr. Dre的G-funk風格更柔和，比Puff Daddy對於80年代R&B的大量採樣更有活力和生氣，又比亞特蘭大本地標杆人物Jermaine Dupri那種融合Soul和Pop的編曲更難以捉摸、更冒險大膽。這就是南部嘻哈之聲，由Pimp C開拓的「country rap tunes」，帶有一種消極的世界觀的風格：對本地的事物小心敏感，對外面的世界偏執妄想，但還是懷有一種終極層次的希望——至少跟「黑人兄弟們自相殘殺」時「吸點東西」一樣滿懷希望****。

*the Isley Brothers：美國最長壽、影響最深遠的音樂團體之一。

**Isaac Hayes：著名音樂人，曾獲奧斯卡、格萊美等大獎。

***Curtis Mayfield：著名音樂人，對早期soul的發展有重要貢獻，曾兩度被引介入格萊美名人堂。

****此處指OutKast的歌曲Crumblin』 Erb，在歌曲中，OutKast表達了自己對於幫派鬥爭的態度：與其用暴力說話、自相殘殺，不如吸點東西、及時行樂。

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was a revelation to hip-hop: Two dope boys in a Cadillac rapping just as well as, if not better than, just about anyone around them, sharing untold tales of Atlanta slums and Georgia red clay and opining on race in a way that introduced the concept of the Dirty South a year before they』d give it a name with the Goodie Mob. OutKast』s arrival was as eye-opening as N.W.A.』s had been in the late 』80s and their next project, ATLiens (1996) quickly vaporized any notions of sophomore slumps song-by-song, rhyme-by-rhyme. With their third album, Aquemini (1998)—a total fuck-you to any ideas of limitations on what a street-rooted hip-hop album could sound like, think like, and talk about—they ascended to rare air: musical acts who have been able to pull off a hat-trick of commercial and critical hits with their first three releases.

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik是一篇嘻哈文化實錄：兩個酷斃了的男孩坐在一輛凱迪拉克裡面說唱，唱得和周圍的任何人一樣好——如果你堅稱他們不比旁人唱得更好的話。他們向聽眾分享不為人知的故事，這些故事發生在亞特蘭大的貧民區等喬治亞州的熱土上。他們以獨特的風格針對種族問題發聲，一年之後，他們和the Goodie Mob*一起將這種風格發揚光大，構造了「骯髒南方（the Dirty South）」的概念。OutKast的橫空出世，與八十年代末時N.W.A**的出道一樣令人大開眼界。在隨後的專輯ATLiens（發表於1996年）里，OutKast用一首接一首的佳作、一個接一個的強勁節拍，把那些以為他們只是曇花一現的質疑打得煙消雲散。在他們的第三張專輯——Aquemini（發表於1998年）里，OutKast粗暴而徹底地打破了人們對於植根街頭的嘻哈音樂的一切印象成見。此時OutKast的樂壇地位，已經來到了空氣稀薄的高處，一覽眾山小：鮮有音樂人能像他們這樣上演「帽子戲法」——生涯頭三張專輯都叫好又叫座。

*the Goodie Mob：著名嘻哈團體，成員之一即為著名音樂人CeeLo Green。

**N.W.A.：著名嘻哈團體，匪幫說唱（Gangsta Rap）的代表之一。

In this way, 2000』s Stankonia was set up to be a victory lap—the group really had nothing left to prove. Each album had further refined their mastery; each one was a tour de force in its own right. But where Aquemini seemed to be rejecting most radio leanings with sprawling jam-session numbers like 「SpottieOttieDopaliscious,」 「Liberation,」 「Synthesizer,」 and 「Chonkyfire,」 Stankonia found OutKast catering to a mass market without seeming to give it much thought. The album』s two most indelible hits—「So Fresh, So Clean」 and 「Ms. Jackson」—are unrepentant earworms that feel like natural extensions of the group』s sound, not crossover attempts. Both songs are full of layered and complex intonations: 「So Fresh」 simply speaks on haberdashery and hoes, while 「Jackson」 went on to win a Grammy, despite being a somewhat heady and sincere dedication to their baby mama』s mamas. Produced by their longtime collaborators and mentors Organized Noize, 「Jackson」 is one of the best radio singles they』ve ever produced as a duo.

如此看來，發表於2000年的Stankonia本就註定是一次值得繞場慶祝的勝利：這個雙人組已經不再需要向外界證明什麼了。（過去幾張專輯）每一張都呈現出愈發精湛的技藝，每一張都是獨一無二的傑作。但像是Aquemini這張專輯也有不逮，SpottieOttieDopaliscious、Liberation、Synthesizer和Chonkvfire這些歌曲，結構自由隨意、帶有即興色彩，讓大多數電台對其敬而遠之。而在Stankonia里，OutKast的創作對主流市場有了更高的友好度；同時，他們的作品又並沒有變得媚俗。專輯裡兩首令人難忘的熱門單曲：So Fresh, So Clean和Ms. Jackson，像耳蟲一樣在你耳朵里生根，但同時又讓人覺得自然而不媚俗；它們更像是OutKast既往作品的延伸，而非融入主流的刻意嘗試。這兩首歌層次豐富、語調複雜：So Fresh聊的是服飾店和蕩婦，而Jackson贏得了一座格萊美獎，雖然它的思想內涵並不高深：它是主人公對未婚先孕的妻子的媽媽的宣言，急切而懇切地闡明了自己對她寶貝女兒的奉獻。由OutKast長期的良師益友、嘻哈團體Organized Noize製作的這首Ms. Jackson，是雙方合作過最棒的電台單曲之一。

It has to be mentioned that the group, along with their longtime DJ, Mr. DJ, had begun handling the bulk of their production with Aquemini and it sounded as if their longtime producers, Organized Noize—who had stunned on Goodie Mob』s debut, created one of TLC』s defining songs with 「Waterfalls」 and produced En Vogue』s biggest hit, 「Don』t Let Go (Love)」—had actually been holding the duo back musically. Stankonia was an orgy of sonics leftover from Lee Perry』s Black Ark and George Clinton』s Mothership that sounded like drugs without sounding druggy. It was the acoustics of outer space talking about inner spaces; a self-driving Tesla in the body of a Cadillac Fleetwood; it was Wakanda. It』s no coincidence that former OutKast satellite Killer Mike』s group with rapper-producer El-P, Run the Jewels introduced the fictional nation in the first trailer for Marvel』s Black Panther—OutKast was at once retro and futuristic, veteranized and new school, otherworldly yet street, out of time and timeless, and their impact is evident in the biggest rap acts of today, from Migos to Kendrick Lamar.

其實必須提到，在Aquemini時期開始形成的、由OutKast及其長期合作DJ（Mr. DJ）所組成的專輯製作小組，共事至Stankonia時期，其表現已經讓長期合作的製作人團隊Organized Noize相形見絀。當然，Organized Noize的確是成就傲人的嘻哈團隊，他們曾在Goodie Mob的處女作中大出風頭，曾擔綱TLC的代表作Waterfalls的製作，也曾擔綱En Vogue最受歡迎的單曲Don』t Let Go (Love) 的製作——但此時，他們的表現聽上去似乎在音樂上拖了OutKast的後腿。Stankonia是一場聲效的狂歡，與Lee Perry的Black Ark和George Clinton的Mothership一脈相承，讓人過癮而不上癮。它像是來自外太空的聲響，談論的卻是人類的內心世界；又像是駕駛著老式豪車凱迪拉克Fleetwood，卻體味到特斯拉電動汽車的科技感。它就像是瓦坎達。Run the Jewels，這個由曾與OutKast共事的嘻哈歌手Killer Mike以及另一位嘻哈歌手El-P組成的嘻哈二人組，為漫威電影《黑豹》的首支預告片獻聲，介紹了影片中的虛構國度（瓦坎達）——這並非巧合。OutKast這個組合，兼具復古感和未來感，兼具老道經驗和新派作風；像是來自另一個世界，又仍然保持街頭風采；不屬於任何一個時代，又散發出永恆的魅力。顯而易見，諸多前輩之中，他們的影響在當今的嘻哈後生里最為顯著——從Migos到Kendrick Lamar，他們的作品裡都能聽到OutKast的迴響。

There is so much going across Stankonia—the coordinated confetti of noises on 「Gangsta Shit,」 the uneasy meditation of teen pregnancy that is 「Toilet Tisha,」 the playful lasciviousness of 「I』ll Call Before I Come,」 the melodic menace of 「Red Velvet,」 the skits that spoke in metaphors to the subconscious via hood tongues, the arrangements and progressions that felt capricious, but totally natural. The backing tracks weren』t soundscapes as much as they are aural murals graffitied on the cosmic underpasses where abandoned tricked-out space shuttles rest, stripped of their Brougham rims. It was music that was tangential to crunk, a predecessor to trap, indebted to hip-hop, electro, funk, rock, and anything alternative—the type of music that usually succeeds on intellectual levels and rewards nerds, but not readily equating to an album that would sell more than 4 million copies. Yet OutKast is probably best defined by defying parameters and expectations.

Stankonia里融匯了太多太多色彩：Gangsta Shit里猶如婚禮現場的彩紙一樣飄灑紛飛又和諧統一的音效，Toilet Tisha里對於青少年懷孕滿懷憂慮的沉思，I』ll Call Before I Come里頑皮挑逗的色情意味，Red Velvet里旋律優美的威脅……還有充滿了隱喻的過場短曲，這些隱喻裹在濃郁的街頭口音里，直指潛意識層面的問題；編曲和後期製作，隨心所欲、毫無定律，卻讓人倍覺渾然天成。那些隱藏曲目，並不只是曲目表中的歌曲的陪襯背景；它們更是宇宙隧道里牆壁上精彩的聽覺塗鴉，塗鴉之處，即是宇宙飛船的休息處，飛船被去掉多餘的裝飾，被扯下凱迪拉克Brougham的豪車偽裝。Stankonia的風格，與曠課樂（crunk）的範疇相切。曠課樂可以說是trap的鼻祖，受到嘻哈、電子樂、放克樂、搖滾樂以及一切另類音樂的啟發與影響——能否純熟運用這種風格，取決於創作者的音樂智慧之高低；一般情況下，只有天賦異稟的怪人才能取得成功。但是，能純熟運用這種風格，也不等於你的專輯就能受到廣泛歡迎、賣出超過400萬張。即便如此，OutKast仍是那個做到了一切的典範；他們打破了外界的有限估算與期望。

Stankonia is easily the group』s most expansive and abrasive effort. It』s more accomplished than their biggest seller, the double-disc Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which lacks the tension and dichotomy of André and Big Boi locked in a studio, warring with each other and themselves to the extent that created numbers like 「Humble Mumble,」 Stankonia』s breakbeat-ish, Caribbean-tinged track where Big Boi admonishes a simp with 「Sloppy slippin』 in your pimpin』, nigga/You either pistol whip the nigga or you choke the trigger,」 before André recalls speaking with a rap critic: 「She said she thought hip-hop was only guns and alcohol/I said 『Oh, hell naw!』/But, yet, its that too.」

毫無疑問，Stankonia是OutKast最廣闊、最有質感的專輯。它比OutKast那張更為暢銷的雙碟專輯Speakerboxxx/The Love Below具有更高的完成度，後者缺乏那種兩位成員在錄音室中相互較勁的工作狀態所激發的張力與分裂感。兩人彼此較勁、也和自己較勁，這種緊張狀態促成他們創作出Humble Mumble這樣的歌曲——Stankonia里一首碎拍風格、帶有加勒比熱帶色彩的曲目。在這首歌曲中，Big Boi告誡一個蠢蛋：「Sloppy slippin』 in your pimpin』, nigga/You either pistol whip the nigga or you choke the trigger」，緊接著就是Andre回憶起自己與一個說唱樂批評者之間的對話：「She said she thought hip-hop was only guns and alcohol/I said 『Oh, hell naw!』/But, yet, its that too.」

OutKast had always consisted of a politically conscious pimp and a spiritual gangsta, but on Stankonia, those identities came to the fore with a greater distinction that paradoxically allowed them to sound closer together than they had since their inception—even as André sat out songs like 「Snappin』 & Trappin』」 and 「We Luv Deez Hoez.」 On Stankonia』s first proper song, 「Gasoline Dreams」 Big Boi raps about their clout and the limits thereof—「Officer, get off us, sir/Don』t make me call [my label boss] L.A. [Reid], he』ll having you walking, sir/A couple of months ago they gave OutKast the key to city/But I still gotta pay my taxes and they give us no pity」—while André throttles out a brainy hook: 「Don』t everybody like the smell of gasoline?/Well burn, motherfucker, burn American dreams.」

OutKast常規的人設身份配置是：一個政治意識強烈的皮條客，一個很關心精神世界的黑幫歹徒。但是，在Stankonia中，台前的人設身份差別更加分明，這反而令他們的聲音聽上去前所未有地更加合作緊密、和諧統一，即便Andre沒有參與演唱Snappin』 & Trappin』和We Luv Deez Hoez這樣的歌曲。在Stankonia的第一首正式歌曲Gasoline Dreams中，Big Boi談及了他們自己的影響力，以及具備了這種影響力之後，他們在社會上仍遭遇到的掣肘：「Officer, get off us, sir/Don』t make me call [my label boss] L.A. [Reid], he』ll having you walking, sir/A couple of months ago they gave OutKast the key to city/But I still gotta pay my taxes and they give us no pity」緊接著，Andre向開閘一樣噴出一段充滿智慧的hook：「Don』t everybody like the smell of gasoline?/Well burn, motherfucker, burn American dreams.」

Stankonia is an album about many things and full of epigrams; so ahead of the curve that one of its many double entendres—「I got a stick and want your automatic」—is now a bona fide triple entendre. It』s about sounds as smells and music as sex, but mostly it』s about two black kids from Southwest Atlanta, boogieing with chips on their shoulders, making Molotov cocktails of songs that sound like a revolution』s afterparty. It』s peppered with personal narratives and small slips of autobiography, and it tackles big ideas both directly and obliquely. But, ultimately, it sounds like two artists going pop on their own terms while trying to make sense of, and change, the world around them. Closing in on two decades after its release, Stankonia remains loud as bombs over Baghdad and humble as a mumble in the jungle.

Stankonia是一張話題廣泛、充滿警句的專輯。他們超前於時代，專輯裡的其中一句雙關——「I got a stick and want your automatic」——現在已經演變成一句善意的三關語。在Stankonia里，聲響似乎帶著可感的氣味，音樂像性愛一樣令人激動；但更多地，這是一張關於兩個來自亞特蘭大西南部的黑人孩子的專輯，他們舞動著撒有薯片屑的肩膀，製造著像莫洛托夫燃燒彈一樣威力十足的歌曲，給人以革命勝利後舉辦慶典的感覺。個人化的敘事與自傳色彩的片段混雜在音樂之中，論及一些宏大嚴肅的話題，他們又能做到精準而不失圓滑。但說到底，這是兩位藝術家邁向流行的過程，同時又嘗試著解釋甚至是改變周遭的世界。在其發表將盡二十年後的今天，Stankonia依然像巴格達上空的炸彈那樣響徹雲霄；也依然像叢林里的一聲低語那樣，謙遜恭順。

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