Culture

So, What Does Everyone Think of the OutKast Reunion?

Late Friday evening the new Frank Ocean remix that just so happened to have verses from Andre 3000 and Big Boi, two rappers who used to perform together as OutKast. 

By Connor Simpson
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Late Friday evening the new Frank Ocean remix that just so happened to have verses from Andre 3000 and Big Boi, two rappers who used to perform together as OutKast.

We previously told you about the hype over the "Pink Matter" remix and the potential reunion of sorts for the Atlanta rappers. Their last studio album together, Idlewild, came out in 2006. The last single they released together was 2007's "Royal Flush," a song meant to appear on Big Boi's first solo album, but didn't make the cut due to label complications. There were a few b-sides the two recorded for that album that didn't make the release, but appeared on music blogs, eventually. But fans haven't heard anything official from the two in years. There was even debate over whether Big Boi adding a verse to a remix of a Frank Ocean song that already had 3000 on it counted as a proper reunion. This is what Ocean had to say about the matter:

So, now that it's out, what does everyone think?

Well, there doesn't seem to be a consistent critical opinion on the "Pink Matter" remix. Spin's Nicole Sia says Big Boi's flow doesn't fit well on the song, and his lines are "too crass for the track's emotional fragility." Big Boi "kills 'em softly," on his verse, writes Rap-Up.com. "Regardless of how the meal is presented, merely digesting the word “OutKast” allows birds to chirp louder, food to taste better and the sun to shine brighter. Even if, in 2013, we’ve all accepted how things are will never be how they once were," writes Smoking Section's J. Tinsley. The song is "melancholy and gorgeous," according to Blackbook's Jessica Wakeman. "If you’re looking to satiate your love for OutKast with this “Pink Matter” remix, it’s not gonna happen," writes Popdust's Lindsey Weber.

We're inclined to agree with Weber. This doesn't sound anything like an OutKast song. And while it brings us immense joy to hear them rapping consecutive verses again, we'd prefer if it were in a more... fitting, Atlanta-based setting, like that new T.I. remix Big Boi keeps talking about.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.