Outkast returns to roots with ‘Royal Flush’

Column by Landon Antonetti

With no album in sight, Big Boi and Andre 3000, who collectively form the hip-hop duo Outkast, have teamed up again to release a funk-inspired single called “Royal Flush.” The track is the lead single off of Big Boi’s upcoming album Sir Luscious Left Foot, named after one of Big Boi’s many aliases.

Outkast, whose 2006 album Idlewild found them exploring the musical styles of a fictional town in Georgia during the Depression-ridden 1930s, have returned to their funky roots with this trunk-rattling single. We also find them delivering their most political lyrics to date, speaking out against George Bush, the war and the misdirection of today’s youth.

This banger also reunites the gentlemen of Outkast with their longtime East Coast compadre, the Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon the Chef. Raekwon, who first teamed up with Big Boi and ‘Dre on “Skew It on the Bar-B” (from Outkast’s 1998 album “Aquemini”), delivers a top-notch verse complete with skilled wordplay and plenty of cocaine references to boot.

The Isley Brothers-inspired beat comes compliments of Outkast’s trusty production team, Organized Noize, consisting of Sleepy Brown, Rico Wade and Ray Murray. Not only have they provided the backdrop for some of Outkast’s hits, but they’ve also produced for the likes of Ludacris, UGK and Curtis Mayfield, the late composer for Superfly.

Big Boi has revealed that Organized Noize will handle most of, if not all of, the production on his solo venture. No other guest appearances are known right now, except for Mary J. Blige on the track “The World Is Too Big,” which appeared in Big Boi’s recent ballet “Big.”

As of now, Sir Luscious Left Foot is slated for a July release. Andre 3000 has also been rumored to be releasing a solo project this year, but a single has yet to appear. After their respective solo projects are done, it’s been said that they will return to the studio to cut another Outkast album, dispelling all the rumors that the duo has broken up.

Whether they’re doing their solo projects or performing together, both artists are making waves in 2008 — on the big screen, on stage at the opera house and in the recording studio.

Landon Antonetti is an undecided sophomore and production director at WRFL. E-mail [email protected].