Is OutKast overrated?

In my post today at XXL, I take one of those big, shiny Kosher swords (nullus) to one of the last remaining sacred cows in hip-hop: OutKast. To hear some dudes on the Internets (a lot of them, actually) tell it, every album that OutKast ever put out is a five mic classic. Of course I had to disagree.

For what it's worth, OutKast might actually be the most consistent group in hip-hop when it comes to albums. Still, it seems silly to me to suggest that ATLiens, to use an example, is equally as good as Stankonia, which I consider their best album by far.

Here's how I ranked their albums, using XXL's patented XXL rating system:

Southernplayalistic, 1994: XL. Pretty good for a debut, but not the classic they say it is, especially compared to some of the other albums that came out that year.

ATLiens, 1996: L. I know a lot of people really like this, but as far as I'm concerned they kinda lost the plot here. As I recall, this wasn't as successful commercially as the one before it, either.

Aquemini, 1998: XL. Their first album that's really that good, but still not the five mic classic The Source would have you believe.

Stankonia, 2000: XXL. Picks up where Aquemini left off, but a lot more consistent than that album, as far as I'm concerned.

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, 2003: XL. Could've been even better than Stankonia, if they were actually getting along at the time. Still pretty good though, for what it is.

Checkit:

• The Not So Mighty O [XXL]