Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton grew up in the same neighbourhood and attended the same school in East Atlanta. They would grow into arguably the biggest rap group of all time. Benjamin, who goes by Andre 3000, and Patton, who is known as Big Boi, are Outkast, up there with Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest for their cultural impact in hip-hop.
Gasoline Dreams is the second track of one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all-time, 2000’s Stankonia. It was their fourth studio album, released on LaFace label, and it was a shift for them. They had often been pioneers of culture, whether that be their flow or their fashion, and they weren’t afraid to go against the grain, but Stankonia was a funk-filled conceptual space, totally different to anything that had come before it.
Gasoline Dreams sets the bar for the album’s funkiness. The repeated “alright” kicks the song off over Grand Master Flash-esque record scratches. It then opens up into a rock inspired record, with guitar riffs and aggressive, politically charged lyrics. An open crtitique on modern America, from incompetent politicians to crooked police forces.
This album, with it’s honest and trailblazing sound, spawned the likes of Janelle Monae and Kanye West, and there is certainly a case to be made for this album and this song being the forefather of American protest songs within hip-hop, which culminated in the song and video for Childish Gambino’s This Is America.
Outkast are a seminal band in hip-hop, off of which spawned many of the artists you know and love today. I’d wager they have had a greater cultural impact than Hey Ya, but maybe that’s just me.
Spotify Playlist Link: https://spoti.fi/2CKuVex
A Song A Day 