Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
album by OutKast
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by the American hip-hop duo Outkast. It was released on September 23, 2003, by Arista Records. Issued as a double album, its length of over two hours is spread across solo records by Big Boi and André 3000.
Originally conceived as standalone albums, the members' solo efforts were integrated into a double album under Outkast's name as Arista deemed the decision to release solo albums unsuitable at the time. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is a Southern hip-hop and progressive rap album influenced by Parliament-Funkadelic, while André 3000's The Love Below largely departs from hip-hop in favor of pop, funk, jazz, psychedelia, and progressive soul styles, drawing inspiration from Prince. While The Love Below was entirely produced by André 3000, Speakerboxxx featured contributions from André 3000, Mr. DJ, Carl Mo, Cutmaster Swift, and Dojo5, in addition to production by Big Boi. Lyrically, Speakerboxxx discusses socially conscious themes, such as single parenthood, philosophy, religion, and politics, whereas The Love Below is centered on complexities related to love and relationships. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below features a multifaceted array of collaborators, including Sleepy Brown, Killer Mike, Ludacris, Jay-Z, Rosario Dawson, Kelis, and Norah Jones.
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.
The public source identifies “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” as album by OutKast. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Speakerboxxx, Love and Below.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q603672. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2003.
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