ATLiens

ATLiens is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on August 27, 1996, by Arista Records and LaFace Records. From 1995 to 1996, Outkast recorded ATLiens in sessions at several Atlanta studios—Bosstown Recording Studios, Doppler Recording Studios, PatchWerk Recording Studio, Purple Dragon Studios, and Studio LaCoCo—as well as Chung King Recording Studio and Sound On Sound Recording in New York City.

The album features outer space-inspired production sounds, with Outkast and producers Organized Noize incorporating elements of dub and gospel into the compositions. Several songs feature the duo's first attempts at producing music by themselves. Lyrically, the group discusses a wide range of topics, including urban life as hustlers, existential introspection, and extraterrestrial life. The album's title is a portmanteau of "ATL" (an abbreviation of Atlanta, Georgia, the duo's hometown) and "aliens", which has been interpreted by critics as symbolizing the duo's feeling of being estranged from American society.

ATLiens debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, and it sold nearly 350,000 copies in its first two weeks of release. The album was very well received by music critics upon its release, who praised its unique sound and lyrical content. It has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of two million copies in the United States. The album spawned the singles "Elevators (Me & You)", "ATLiens" / "Wheelz of Steel", and "Jazzy Belle". Since its release, ATLiens has been listed by several magazines and critics as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.

In 1994, Outkast released their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, which was recorded when members Big Boi and André 3000 were 18 years old. Bolstered by the success of the single "Player's Ball", the record established Outkast as prominent figures in the Southern hip hop scene. After the album was certified platinum, LaFace Records gave Outkast more creative control and advanced money for their 1996 follow-up album ATLiens. The duo took the opportunity to recreate their image. On a trip to Jamaica with producer Mr. DJ, the two decided to abandon their cornrow hairstyles in favor of a more natural aesthetic, vowing to stop combing their hair. Dungeon Family member Big Rube observed an increase in the duo's confidence after returning from their first tour, remarking, "They started understanding the power they had in their music. They started showing a swagger that certain artists have—the ones that are stars." The members also underwent changes in their personal lives; in 1995, Big Boi's girlfriend gave birth to their first child and André 3000 and Total's Keisha Spivey ended their two-year relationship.

Despite its success, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik had some detractors, including hip hop tastemakers who were unaccustomed to the album's style. As the East Coast and West Coast hip hop scenes were already well-established at the time, many did not view the South as a legitimate and respectable scene. At the 1995 Source Awards, an award ceremony held by The Source magazine, Outkast won in the "Best Newcomer" category, but were booed upon taking the stage and delivering their acceptance speech; in response, André 3000 said, "The South got somethin' to say." He later recalled how the album was received by some listeners: "People thought that the South basically only had bass music. At first people were looking at us like 'Um, I don't know.'" Taken aback by the backlash, André 3000 and Big Boi channeled their frustration in the studio to improve upon their debut.

After acquiring their own recording studio, the duo immediately started working on new material and assimilated themselves with music recording and studio equipment, as they sought to become more ambitious artists and less dependent on other producers. The two also became more accustomed to playing live, particularly Big Boi, and André 3000 significantly changed his lifestyle; he adopted a more eccentric fashion sense, became a vegetarian (he has since resumed eating meat), and stopped smoking marijuana. Having dropped out months before graduation, André 3000 returned to high school to earn his diploma during the recording of ATLiens.

Before beginning work on ATLiens, André 3000 purchased an SP1200 drum machine, an MPC3000 sampler, a TASCAM mixing board, and turntables with stacks of classic records. Although he had never produced a song before, he used techniques learned from observing the Dungeon Crew at work. "Elevators (Me & You)" was the first song the duo created together for the album. The duo refrained from sampling on the album, with Big Boi explaining "I feel like you cheat the listener when you sample. If it's an old school jam, leave it to the old. We wanna have our own school of music."

Outkast recorded the album in sessions at several Atlanta studios—Bosstown Recording Studios, Doppler Recording Studios, PatchWerk Recording Studio, Purple Dragon Studios, and Studio LaCoCo—as well as Chung King Recording Studio and Sound On Sound Recording in New York City. For ATLiens, the band aimed for a consistent set of songs in which a listener would not need to skip tracks; Outkast wrote around 35 songs for the album and reduced them to fourteen. The duo's songwriting style for the album had no solid structure and was mostly spontaneous; Big Boi noted, "Stuff'll just come to you. I'll be sittin' in the truck, and I'll start rhymin'. People look at me like I'm crazy, but that's how it starts."