ATLiens is the second studio album from hip-hop duo comprised of Andre 3000 Big Boi, better known as Outkast.  ATLiens is celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend. While it's not looked at as their best album it definitely was the one that introduced Outkast to a commercial audience. 

The record features outer space-inspired production, with Outkast and producers Organized Noize incorporating elements of dub, psychedelic rock, and gospel. Following their first album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and its subsequent tour the duo began to understand the power they had in their music and became more confident in returning to the studio. They were also focused after being booed at the 1995 Source Awards when they won the "Best Newcomer" category. This was the moment in the midst of well established East Coast and West Coast hip-hop scenes with growing tension that Andre 3000 proclaimed "The South got somethin' to say."

"Elevators (Me & You)" was the lead single from ATLiens. The song is a hypnotic mix of blues, bass and percussion. "Elevators" would become for a lot of folks the first introduction to a southern style hip hop culture that would go on to become a force in the early 2000s and continues to dominate the hip hop scene today. 

The title track for the album was the second single. All we can simply say about the song is that it is dope. The combination of the beat, production and verses from the two just make it a perfect track to vibe out to. It's a solid example of the variety of sonics that were available in urban music during the late 90s.

The third and final single from ATLiens is the infamous "Jazzy Belle." This song is hypnotic. Big Boi has claimed that he wasn't a fan of the production on the song but Andre 3000 was so enthusiastic that he went along with it. There allegedly was an argument between to the two about whether to drop it as a single where Andre 3000 bribed Big Boi with some cash to release the song. 

You have to remember at this point hip hop was certainly dominated by the east and west coasts. Southern hip hop was mainly underground and restricted to it's cities. ATLiens certainly proved Andre 3000s sentiments that "the South has something to say." And since this time the influence of the south on hip hop culture would over take the two established regions and as of today continues to be the superiority for the culture.

A special anniversary edition of ATLiens has been released which features instrumentals for all the songs on the album. Get into it below: