(creativeloafing) By the time Aquemini was due to drop in the fall of 1998, no one knew what to expect from the-soon-to-be-iconic OutKast. They'd gone from red clay players to extraterrestrials - down-to-earth to out-of-this-world - in the span of two albums. But if the contextual leap from their Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik debut to ATLiens was fueled by an Afrofuturistic flight of fancy (and, lest we forget, their feelings of alienation from hip-hop's East Coast vanguard), then Aquemini was OutKast's return mission home. Not only were Antwon "Big Boi" Patton and Andre "3000" Benjamin eager to prove that they were still down, they wanted to lift the 'hood a little higher. The resulting mix was earthy and ethereal - a perfect bridge between their artistic extremes. Dre was producing more, following the blueprint inherited from mentors Ray Murray, Rico Wade and Sleepy Brown of Organized Noize. Big was penning the hooks that would help turn OutKast into celebrated pop stars. And Mr. DJ was churning out some serious beats on the drum machine. By collaborating with some of Atlanta's finest instrumentalists on record, they created one of their most experimental and musical releases to date. Now that the Dirty South rules the world, it's easy to forget that Aquemini was the first Southern hip-hop album to earn the coveted five-mic rating from the former bible of the genre, The Source magazine. At the time, R&B was dead, rap was on its last leg (R.I.P. Biggie and Pac), and Bill Clinton was in the Oval Office getting some head. But it mattered not. If post-soul polemics and pre-millennial angst had the world in a funk, Aquemini only made things funkier. Before all the drama with babies' mamas' mamas, before the Grammy's got hip (replacement surgery), before Hollywood hopped on the jock, this was the album on which Big (the Aquarius) and Dre (the Gemini) truly unleashed their stanktastic genius. On the twelfth anniversary of its release - you know, 12, as in signs of the zodiac - Creative Loafing pays track-by-track homage with an extended breakdown on the making of Aquemini, featuring interviews with Andre 3000, Big Boi, Mr. DJ, Organized Noize mentor Rico Wade, and the numerous featured artists, Atlanta musicians and studio engineers who played an integral role in the creation of one of the best albums ever.

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