It's hard to argue for a single strongest moment on OutKast's third album, Aquemini. However, there is a moment where all the flare of the strain of Southern hip hop that the group pioneered subsides a bit and what's left is an incredibly mellow track that feels like an anchor for the whole project. Despite being the fifth track out of a sixteen track album, it feels like the centrepiece because it sounds like a distilled version of the world that forms when Andre 3000 and Big Boi come together - when the constellations that characterize an Aquarius blend with those of a Gemini.
"Aquemini" is a psychedelic experience. Right after the exuberance of "Skew It On The Bar-B", "Aquemini" pulls you in, drains you of all previous energy and fastens you still. The chorus sounds like a mystical tale that is being recounted spirits. Andre's nasally voice and the echoing of a woman's whispers surround you. With the final dragged out word of the chorus, the world of "Aquemini" is spoken into existence and Big Boi appears to show you around.
Quotable Lyrics
It's lookin' bad, need some hope, like the words 'maybe', 'if', or 'probably'
More than a hobby, when my turntables get wobbly, they don't fall
I'm sorry y'all, I often drift, I'm talking gift
So when it comes you never look the horse inside it's grill