February 20, 2005
The Goodie Mob
The meteoric rise of Outkast is an extraordinary and wonderful thing. It is that rarest of miracles that keeps so many independent thinkers working so hard, despite the odds, at what ever it is they work hard at. Every once in a very long while something genuinely good gets the recognition it deserves. In a world of baseless hyperbole aimed at convincing us there is something good where there is not, the greatest praise is reserved for the actual talent and invention of genuine freaks. No doubt the vampires of commerce have plenty to sink their teeth into, but the blood is so rich there’s plenty left over for the rest of us to enjoy. Among the major bonuses that accompanies such an upheaval is the collateral effect of illuminating all the other bands that have been instrumental in creating the culture Outkast was only the first to emerge from. That culture is the Dungeon in which the ATL sound was cooked up. Big Boy and Andre 3000 have made amazing music, no doubt, but they were carried on the strong shoulders of Wille Knight a.k.a. Khujo Goodie. The dirty south sound has plenty of contributors. Not least of all the other members of The Mob, Big Gipp a.k.a. The Mutant and T-Mo Goodie. Their latest album One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show is a tribute to their resilience and survival despite the onslaught of curve balls life likes to throw at struggling artists. One of the major innovations is the ATL sound’s genuine fascination with soul music and the subtlety of production values that go along with it.