Speakerboxxx/The Love Below | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 23, 2003 | |||
Recorded | 2002–2003 | |||
Studio | ||||
Genre | ||||
Length | 134:49 | |||
Label | Arista | |||
Producer |
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Outkast chronology | ||||
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Singles from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below | ||||
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Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast, released on September 23, 2003 by Arista Records. Issued as a double album, its length of over two hours is spread across two solo albums from both of the group's members. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is a Southern hip hop album with progressive qualities and influence from the Parliament-Funkadelic sound; André 3000's The Love Below largely departs from hip hop in favor of pop, funk, electro, psychedelia, and jazz styles while drawing inspiration from artists such as Prince and D'Angelo.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was supported with the hit singles " Hey Ya!" and " The Way You Move", which both reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and the Top-10 hit " Roses". The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 510,000 copies in its first week. It eventually amassed a total of seven non-consecutive weeks at the top of the chart and 24 weeks in the Top 10. It has been certified Diamond and 13x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) (each disc in the double album counted as a separate unit for certification). As of May 2024, it has sold 6.5 million units in the United States.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised the consistency of Big Boi's Speakerboxxx and the eclectic musical style of André 3000's The Love Below. It topped The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll, garnered the most total votes for any number-one album in the history of the poll, and won Album of the Year and Best Rap Album at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, while "Hey Ya!" won Best Urban/Alternative Performance. The album has been acclaimed as one of the greatest albums of the 2000s and was ranked 290th in Rolling Stone's 2020 edition of its " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.
Following the release of Outkast's fourth studio album Stankonia (2000), André 3000 felt urged to do something different from his previous projects and moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He was relatively unsuccessful, landing a minor role in Hollywood Homicide (2003) and a one-episode appearance in the drama series The Shield. He returned to music and recorded a solo album that was different from the material he had recorded as part of Outkast. The output was a blend of pop, jazz and funk with live instruments and more singing than rapping. [4] When writing songs, he used a microcassette recorder in order to "record melodic ideas and lyrics, then build the melody around the lyrics". [5]
The recording of The Love Below began at André 3000's Los Angeles home, using Pro Tools software, [5] in addition to a drum machine, keyboards and various synthesizers. [6] He enjoyed the atmosphere of recording at home instead of a studio, saying to XXL, "it didn't start in the studio because if you have a bunch of people around, they're coming from the party and I'm in there singing falsetto ... those vibes didn't match." His initial sessions were hampered by his inexperience with Pro Tools and, unaware how to edit his recordings, he opted to record songs such as "Pink & Blue" in their entirety. [5] Other gear used included an Avalon VT737 SP and AD2055 EQ and AD2044 compressors for his vocals. [6] After creating five songs, he informed Big Boi of the solo project he had been working on. [4]
Big Boi had already recorded some songs when André 3000 had contacted him, but after their conversation he decided his next project would be Speakerboxxx. [4] Describing his approach in the studio, Big Boi later commented to XXL, "the idea was just to keep it funky, keep it jamming, it's always bass-heavy. And lyricism, it's all about lyrics, taking pride in your pen and your pad." His favorite song to record was "Unhappy". He spent several days working on its hook before driving to his mother's home and playing the song in her driveway, to which she responded enthusiastically. [5] At some point in the recording, the project moved to OutKast's Stankonia Studios in downtown Atlanta, which had been used to record OutKast's previous release and namesake. John Frye, the studio manager and an engineer, would later recognise that much of the media attention surrounding the album's recording was concerned with André 3000 and Big Boi's working relationship and why they had chosen to record separately. He concedes that both enjoyed working solo and were doing so more frequently, but they continued to share and critique each other's music. [6]
John Frye also describes how the format of the projects changed rapidly. Initially intended as two separate solo releases, they decided to merge their work and create a soundtrack album as André 3000 had initially intended. The duo then began preparing to work on a motion picture, but reconsidered and compromised by interpolating background noise into songs, such as the slamming of car doors and footsteps. [5] [6] They eventually settled on releasing a double album. Frye noted the end of the recording sessions as particularly stressful for André 3000, who he described as drained from working at four studios simultaneously. In total, an estimated 120 songs were recorded for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. [6]
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is a 135-minute double album comprising a total of 40 tracks, including 11 interludes. [7] It is a concept album with the intention of each disc showcasing each member's individual perspective and musical style. [8] [5] Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is an experimental Southern hip hop record with socially conscious lyrical themes, such as single parenthood, philosophy, religion, and politics. [4] [9] Journalist Roni Sarig observed the emotional range in Big Boi's lyricism as wider on Speakerboxxx than on its predecessors. [4] After a "gunshot beat"-paced intro, the disc opens with " GhettoMusick". [10] The track's eclectic musical style, encompassing electroclash, [11] electro-funk, [9] hip hop, [7] and techno, [12] is juxtaposed with recurring excerpts from Patti LaBelle's 1983 song " Love, Need and Want You", which exhibit LaBelle's vocals against a "lascivious" soul background. [7] [13] Lyrically, it displays Big Boi confronting lackluster contemporary rappers and criticizing the hip hop scene's perceived descent. [14] According to Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork, "Unhappy" musically conveys Big Boi effectively asserting himself as simultaneously traditional and perverse. [15] The big band, horn-driven funk track "Bowtie" was described as reminiscent of George Clinton and Cotton Club. [16] [15] [17] [13] It lyrically details stylishly dressing for a night out, [18] and features Sleepy Brown and Jazze Pha. [19] Brown is also featured on " The Way You Move", a Latin-influenced R&B song pairing a "Dirty South synth-drum bounce with a faux Phil Collins hook". [20] [9]
Mariachi-tinged hip hop track "The Rooster" discusses Big Boi's struggles as a single parent, [7] [13] against an instrumentation based on "slippery" horns and loose wah-wah guitars. [17] Killer Mike collaboration "Bust" blends hip hop with nu metal, [10] and lyrically expresses a desire for superirority. [21] On the psychedelic soul track "War", Big Boi refers to the 2000 United States presidential election, War in Afghanistan, murder of Daniel Pearl, Iraq War, Black Panther Party, and Post-9/11. [22] [23] [24] "Church" is a lyrical critique of organized religion. [18] A techno- gospel song, it has received comparisons to Stevie Wonder's 1970s recordings. [15] [12] The interlude "Bamboo"—titled after Big Boi's son, who makes a guest appearance, covering "The Whole World"—precedes "Tomb of the Boom". [25] Both tracks use an identical "bouncy" beat, [10] while the latter dismisses rumors about Outkast's disbandment, [22] and features Konkrete, Big Gipp, and Ludacris. [19] "Knowing" discusses a prostitute's plight, [18] while "Flip Flop Rock" is an ode to flip-flops. [26] Featuring Killer Mike and Jay-Z, "Flip Flop Rock" is a hip hop track built on a "springy" guitar loop and a "beatific" piano, [20] while incorporating scratches and propulsive kickdrums. [15] "Interlude", a spoken word evaluation of Outkast's history, [7] precedes the percussion-infused "Reset", which features Khujo and CeeLo Green. [9] [19] Comedian Henry Welch performs the brief interlude "D-Boi", [7] while Slimm Calhoun, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, and Mello appear on "Last Call", a track accentuated with aggressive horns and an eccentric theremin. [19] [22] Speakerboxxx closes with a 35-second reprise of "Bowtie", on which Big Boi's vocals are altered with helium. [7]
In contrast with Speakerboxxx, Sarig identified André 3000's The Love Below as a " jazzy pop- funk" record comparable to the music of Prince, [4] while Marcello Carlin of Uncut labeled it as an avant-soul concept album. [11] The disc's abounding theme is love, specifically falling in love and self-love. Sarig suggested that the end of André 3000's relationship with Erykah Badu influenced much of the lyrical content, which he saw as concerned with the search for true love. [4] André 3000's vocal performance on the string-driven intro was compared to Frank Sinatra by Andy Gill of The Independent, [18] while on the noise rock- lounge opener "Love Hater", [20] it was described as "mock crooning" by Stephen Thomas Erlewine. [17] The interlude "God" finds André 3000 embracing his "horndog" reputation in a prayer, accompanied by an acoustic guitar. [7] "Happy Valentine's Day" introduces his alter ego Cupid Valentino, a reimagination of Cupid as a "gun-toting thug". [12] [27] [21] Anal sex-themed "Spread" displays trumpets and piano interspersed with a pliant bassline and scattering rimshots. [20] [15] Prelude "Where Are My Panties?", featuring Toni Hunter, [19] insinuates a one-night stand leading to a romantic relationship. [20] The lyrical theme continues on " Prototype", [28] a funk- neo soul ballad sung similarly to Prince, Clinton, and Sly Stone. [7] [29] Alternative R&B track "She Lives in My Lap", [20] featuring actress Rosario Dawson, [28] received further comparisons to Prince, as Erlewine compared the song to Prince and the Revolution's 1985 B-side " She's Always in My Hair". [17]
Acoustic guitar and synth-bass-driven " Hey Ya!" fuses power pop, traditional soul and electro-funk styles. [15] [20] [17] Lyrically an "ass-shaking jam session", [16] it introduces André 3000's second alter ego Ice Cold, who instructs the listeners to "shake it like a Polaroid picture". [27] [30] André 3000 described the song as being "pretty much about the state of relationships in the 2000s. It's about some people who stay together in relationships because of tradition, because somebody told them, 'You guys are supposed to stay together.' But you pretty much end up being unhappy for the rest of your life." [31] " Roses", the sole song on The Love Below on which Big Boi appears, [7] is a diss track directed towards a conceited ex-girlfriend referred to as "Caroline". [32] "Pink & Blue" contains samples of Aaliyah's 1994 song " Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" and reverses its lyrical theme, being directed towards an older love interest rather than a younger one. [18] A " Goth-soul cha-cha" track, [9] "Pink & Blue" ends with a brief orchestrated outro. [15] While "Love in War" is André 3000's lyrical response to Big Boi's "War", [12] the frivolous, falsetto-sung minimalist electro track "She's Alive" discusses single motherhood. [20] [33] "Dracula's Wedding" follows André 3000 as a vampire infatuated with another vampire, portrayed by Kelis, [9] but fearing commitment. [28] " My Favorite Things" is a drum and bass rendition of the song of the same title from The Sound of Music. [27] [26] Norah Jones is featured on "Take Off Your Cool", a string-driven acoustic jazz-soul track. [15] [34] On "Vibrate", André 3000 uses pro-environmental metaphors for masturbation. [12] The dub-jazz track is built on muted trumpets and backward drumbeats. [18] [9] The Love Below closes with "A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)", described as an "autobiographical epistolary". [9]
For the album cover and accompanying imagery for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Big Boi and André 3000 were photographed separately, with Big Boi photographed by longtime collaborator Jonathan Mannion, while Torkil Gudnason photographed André 3000. [35] After listening to the entirety of Speakerboxxx, Mannion devised ideas for imagery based on the record's lyrical themes. Meanwhile, Gudnason had a more fashion-oriented approach towards his photo shoot. [35] The selected cover of Speakerboxxx saw Big Boi dressed in a fur coat and baggy jeans, depicting the fictional procurer named Rooster, who frequently appears on the album. He is shown sitting on a feather duster-decorated rattan chair, inspired by a photograph of Huey P. Newton published in The Black Panther dated November 23, 1967. [35] [36] On the cover of The Love Below, André 3000 is shown posing with a gun and portraying Cupid Valentino, one of his alter egos present on the album. [21]
On the CD pressings of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Big Boi's image was used as the front cover, while André 3000's cover was placed in the back. [19] However, for digital editions and vinyl pressings, the images were juxtaposed into a single cover, with Speakerboxxx on the left and The Love Below on the right. [37] [38] Furthermore, the liner notes were divided into two segments, one for each record, with separate imagery. [19]
Originally titled Outkast Present... Big Boi and Dre—in reference to Outkast's compilation album Big Boi and Dre Present... Outkast (2001)—Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was scheduled for late May 2003, [39] before being postponed to August 19. [40] It was ultimately released on September 23, 2003, by Arista Records. [41] As it was marketed as a double album comprising Big Boi and André 3000's solo discs, Outkast also promoted the album individually, arriving separately to 2003 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28 and staging separate performances and interviews. The strategy elicited intense media speculation over their disbandment, which the members consistently denied. [42] In subsequent months, Outkast appeared on covers of The Source, [43] The Fader, [44] Entertainment Weekly, [45] Vibe, [46] Complex, [47] Rolling Stone, [48] and Q. [49] On October 31, 2003, they performed together on Total Request Live, [50] before performing on Saturday Night Live the following day, [51] at the 2003 American Music Awards on November 16, [52] and at the VH1 Big in '03 Awards on November 20. [53]
André 3000's solo performance of "Hey Ya!" at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards on February 8, 2004 ignited controversy, as its imagery was described as "racist" and disrespectful towards Native American culture. [54] He subsequently performed the song at the 2004 Kids' Choice Awards on April 3. [55] Outkast performed together at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards Japan on May 23; Big Boi held solo concerts at the Shinkiba Studio Coast in Tokyo the following day, [56] and at the launch of Calvin Klein's fragrance Eternity Moment in New York City on June 3. [57] The duo performed "Roses" at the BET Awards 2004 on June 29, [58] and a medley of "The Way You Move", "Hey Ya!", "GhettoMusick" and "Prototype" at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards on August 29. [59] André 3000 then performed at Fashion Rocks on September 8, [60] while Big Boi performed "GhettoMusick" with Patti LaBelle at the 2004 World Music Awards on September 15. [61] In September 2023, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was reissued on two limited-edition vinyl pressings, in commemoration of its 20th anniversary. [62]
In March 2003, MTV News reported "Church" and "Prototype" would be simultaneously released as the lead single from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, and would be accompanied by a Bryan Barber-directed 30-minute short film comprising both songs' music videos; however, those plans never came to fruition. [39] Instead, "GhettoMusick" was released as the lead single on July 15, 2003, as a double A-side single with "She Lives in My Lap". [1] However, the promotion of the single was soon halted as Outkast focused on subsequent singles "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move", [63] hence "GhettoMusick" peaked only at number 93 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. [64] In select countries, the song was released as the album's double A-side fourth and final single alongside "Prototype" in November 2004. [3] Upon its re-release, an accompanying music video for "GhettoMusick" was filmed; directed by Barber, it satirically depicts Big Boi as a "Delivery Boi" for FedUp, and features appearances from Patti LaBelle and Lil Jon. [65]
"Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move" were released as the second and third [b] singles on August 25, 2003. [69] "Hey Ya!" was the first to reach the summit on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it spent nine consecutive weeks, eight of which "The Way You Move" spent at number two, before reaching the top for one week. [66] Thus, Outkast became the first duo in the chart's history to replace itself at the summit. [70] Internationally, "Hey Ya!" reached the top 10 in numerous countries, as well as number one in Australia, [71] Canada, [72] the Czech Republic, [73] Norway, and Sweden, [71] while "The Way You Move" peaked within the top 10 in Australia, [74] Croatia, [75] Denmark, [74] Hungary, [76] New Zealand, [74] and the UK. [77] At the 46th Annual Grammy Awards, "Hey Ya!" won Best Urban/Alternative Performance, and was nominated for Record of the Year. [78] Barber directed both songs' accompanying music videos, which were produced to appear in sequence as a long-form video. [79] "Hey Ya!" shows André 3000 portraying all eight members of the fictional band The Love Below performing to a rapturous crowd in London, to recreate The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, [63] [80] while "The Way You Move" depicts Big Boi and Sleepy Brown in a garage specializing in Speakerboxxx audio systems, before the setting is transformed into a lavish party. [63] At the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards, "Hey Ya!" won four awards, including Video of the Year; [81] it had also been nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards. [78]
"Roses" was released as the fourth single from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below on March 1, 2004. [82] It became their third consecutive top-10 single on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number nine. [83] The song fared similarly internationally, reaching the top 10 in Australia, [84] Canada, [85] Ireland, [86] New Zealand, Norway, [84] and the UK. [87] Its accompanying music video, Outkast's sixth consecutive to be directed by Barber, is a contemporary adaptation of the musical West Side Story, and depicts the rivalry between two high school crews—The Love Below, led by André 3000, and Speakerboxxx, led by Big Boi—as they battle for fictional Caroline's attention. [88] The video was nominated for The Michael Jackson Award for Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video at the 2005 Soul Train Music Awards. [89] "Prototype" was released as the fifth and final single from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below on September 27, 2004, [90] and was released as a double A-side single with "GhettoMusick" internationally. [3] Like "GhettoMusick", "Prototype" failed to enter the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 63 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. [64] The music video for "Prototype" marked André 3000's directorial debut, and depicts him as an extraterrestrial family member, who falls in love with a woman after descending to Earth. [91]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 91/100 [92] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [17] |
Blender | [16] |
Entertainment Weekly | A [9] |
The Guardian | [26] |
The Independent | [18] |
Los Angeles Times | [27] |
NME | 8/10 [13] |
Pitchfork | 8.0/10 [15] |
Rolling Stone | [22] |
The Village Voice | A− [33] |
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 91, based on 26 reviews. [92] Reviewing for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called both discs "visionary, imaginative listens, providing some of the best music of 2003, regardless of genre". [17] He credited Speakerboxxx with "reclaiming the adventurous spirit of the golden age and pushing it into a new era", while referring to The Love Below "the great lost Prince album." [17] Will Hermes wrote in Entertainment Weekly that the album's "ambition flies so far beyond that of anyone doing rap right now (or pop, or rock, or R&B)". [9] Kris Ex wrote for Blender that the double album "holds an explosion of creativity that couldn't have been contained in just one LP", [16] while writing for Los Angeles Times: "It's not just that the collection stands so far above much of today's contemporary hip-hop and R&B; but that it surpasses the high level of genre-defying craftsmanship that the duo has cultivated for nearly a decade." [27] The Guardian's Dorian Lynskey described both discs as "sublime ... hip-hop's Sign o' the Times or The White Album: a career-defining masterpiece of breathtaking ambition". [26] According to Andy Gill of The Independent, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below set "a new benchmark not just for hip hop, but for pop in general", featuring "so many musical tributaries coursing into both Big Boi's progressive-rap pyrotechnics and Dre's freaky jazz-funk love odyssey that even their old tag of 'psychedelic hip-hop soul' starts to look restrictive". [18] Stylus Magazine's Nick Southall called the album "a series of spectacular moments and memorable events". [20] John Mulvey of NME described its two discs as "two Technicolor explosions of creativity that people will be exploring, analysing and partying to for years". [13] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine wrote that it is "greater than the sum of its parts, and this kind of expertly crafted pop and deftly executed funk rarely happen at the same time—not since Stankonia, at least." [12]
In his review of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below for Rolling Stone, Jon Caramanica was less enthusiastic, particularly about André 3000 expressing his "right to be peculiar in a hip-hop context". [22] Matt Dentler from The Austin Chronicle stated that Outkast performed stronger as a duo than individually, explaining: "It's like Lennon and McCartney solo albums: plenty of solid tunes, but the pen held together is mightier than a solo sword." [14] Pitchfork's Brent DiCrescenzo wrote that The Love Below does not sustain "consistent brilliance and emotional complexity throughout" like Speakerboxxx. [15] Ethan Brown from New York shared those sentiments, elaborating: "Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is bolder—he wants to go where most hip-hoppers fear to tread and take the MTV audience along with him. It strikes at the essence of what has made OutKast so important to pop: the accessible, democratic nature of its strangeness." [23] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau said the record could have been "the classic P-Funk rip it ain't quite" had Speakerboxxx alone been issued with "Roses", "Spread", "Hey Ya!", and "an oddity of [André 3000's] choosing". He nonetheless commended what he described as "commercial ebullience, creative confidence, and wretched excess, blessed excess, impressive excess". [33] On the contrary, Matt Harvey of BBC praised both counterparts, describing Speakerboxxx/The Love Below as "hilarious and thought provoking, goes on for hours (without ever getting boring) and is the most ambitious piece of pop [of 2003]". [93] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Roni Sarig wrote that "for sheer breadth, ambition, and musical vision, there's little doubt Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is a classic." [94]
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll. In Australia, " Hey Ya!" was voted No. 2 on the 2003 Triple J Hottest 100, the country's biggest alternative music poll of its type. The album was nominated for six Grammy Awards, winning three ( Album of the Year, Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Hey Ya!" and Best Rap Album). OutKast's other nominations were for Producer of the Year, Best Short-Form Music Video, and Record of the Year, the latter two both for "Hey Ya!".
In 2009, NME ranked Speakerboxxx/The Love Below No. 44 on its list of the top 100 greatest albums of the decade, [95] while Newsweek ranked the album No. 1 on its list of the ten best albums of the decade. [96]
The jazz periodical Down Beat chose it as the best "beyond" album. In 2012 Complex named the album one of the classic albums of the last decade. [97] In 2013, NME ranked Speakerboxxx/The Love Below at No. 183 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [98] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. [99] In Rolling Stone's Top 500 Albums of All-Time, it was ranked No. 290 in the 2020 edition. [100]
After having had three No. 2 albums on the US Billboard 200, OutKast enjoyed their first chart-topping album with Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The album debuted at No. 1 during the week of October 11, 2003, selling more than 510,000 copies in its first week. It became the second-biggest debut for a double album during the SoundScan-era (beginning in 1991). The album sold 235,000 copies in its second week, holding its position atop the Billboard chart. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below spent the next three weeks in the top 5 before returning to the top spot for one more week. Sales remained strong, and the album would spend another four weeks at No. 1 between January and February 2004. In all, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below amassed a total of seven weeks at No. 1, 24 weeks in the Top 10, and 56 weeks on the Billboard 200. By March 2012, the album had sold over 6.5 million copies. [101] Speakerboxxx/The Love Below has been certified diamond and 13 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping more than 13 million units (in this case, 6.5 million double album sets, which are double-counted by the RIAA). [102]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Intro" | Cutmaster Swift | 1:29 | |
2. | " GhettoMusick" | André 3000 | 3:56 | |
3. | "Unhappy" |
| Mr. DJ | 3:19 |
4. | "Bowtie" (featuring Sleepy Brown and Jazze Pha) |
| Big Boi | 3:56 |
5. | " The Way You Move" (featuring Sleepy Brown) |
|
| 3:54 |
6. | "The Rooster" |
|
| 3:57 |
7. | "Bust" (featuring Killer Mike) |
| Big Boi | 3:09 |
8. | "War" |
| Mr. DJ | 2:43 |
9. | "Church" |
| André 3000 | 3:27 |
10. | "Bamboo" (Interlude) (featuring Bamboo) | 2:10 | ||
11. | "Tomb of the Boom" (featuring Konkrete, Big Gipp, and Ludacris) |
| Big Boi | 4:46 |
12. | "E-Mac" (Interlude) (featuring E-Mac) | 0:25 | ||
13. | "Knowing" |
|
| 3:33 |
14. | "Flip Flop Rock" (featuring Killer Mike and Jay-Z) |
|
| 4:36 |
15. | "Interlude" | 1:15 | ||
16. | "Reset" (featuring Khujo and Cee-Lo) |
| Big Boi | 4:36 |
17. | "D-Boi" (Interlude) (featuring Henry Welch) | 0:40 | ||
18. | "Last Call" (featuring Slimm Calhoun, Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz, and Mello) |
| André 3000 | 3:58 |
19. | "Bowtie" (Postlude) | 0:35 | ||
Total length: | 56:26 |
All tracks on The Love Below are written by André Benjamin, except where noted. All tracks are produced by André 3000; "Roses" is co-produced by Dojo5.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "The Love Below" (Intro) | 1:27 | |
2. | "Love Hater" |
| 2:49 |
3. | "God" (Interlude) | 2:20 | |
4. | "Happy Valentine's Day" | 5:23 | |
5. | "Spread" | 3:51 | |
6. | "Where Are My Panties?" (Interlude) (featuring Toni Hunter) | 1:54 | |
7. | " Prototype" | 5:26 | |
8. | "She Lives in My Lap" (featuring Rosario Dawson) |
| 4:27 |
9. | " Hey Ya!" | 3:55 | |
10. | " Roses" |
| 6:09 |
11. | "Good Day, Good Sir" (Interlude) (featuring Fonzworth Bentley) | 1:24 | |
12. | "Behold a Lady" | 4:37 | |
13. | "Pink & Blue" |
| 5:04 |
14. | "Love in War" | 3:25 | |
15. | "She's Alive" |
| 4:06 |
16. | "Dracula's Wedding" (featuring Kelis) | 2:32 | |
17. | "The Letter" (featuring Qasha Aman) | 0:21 | |
18. | " My Favorite Things" | 5:14 | |
19. | "Take Off Your Cool" (featuring Norah Jones) | 2:38 | |
20. | "Vibrate" | 6:33 | |
21. | "A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete)" | 5:11 | |
Total length: | 78:23 |
Notes
Sample credits
Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. [103]
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
Decade-end charts
|
Chart | Position |
---|---|
US Billboard 200 [148] | 112 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia ( ARIA) [149] | 2× Platinum | 140,000‡ |
Canada ( Music Canada) [150] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Denmark ( IFPI Danmark) [151] | Gold | 20,000^ |
Germany ( BVMI) [152] | Gold | 100,000^ |
Hungary ( MAHASZ) [153] | Gold | 10,000^ |
Japan ( RIAJ) [154] | Gold | 100,000^ |
New Zealand ( RMNZ) [155] | 2× Platinum | 30,000^ |
Norway ( IFPI Norway) [156] | Gold | 20,000* |
Sweden ( GLF) [157] | Gold | 30,000^ |
Switzerland ( IFPI Switzerland) [158] | Gold | 20,000^ |
United Kingdom ( BPI) [159] | 3× Platinum | 900,000‡ |
United States ( RIAA) [160] | 13× Platinum | 6,500,000‡ |
Summaries | ||
Europe ( IFPI) [161] | Platinum | 1,000,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United States | September 23, 2003 | Arista | ||
Germany | September 29, 2003 | Double CD | BMG | |
United Kingdom | Arista | |||
Japan | October 8, 2003 | BMG | ||
Australia | October 13, 2003 | |||
Europe | April 7, 2017 | Vinyl | Sony Music | |
Australia | April 14, 2017 |