Big Boi

Last year, Big Boi of Outkast released his first solo album, Sir Lucious Left Foot The Son Of Chico Dusty. Leading up to its release, the album generated a lot of hype and eventually went on to become a critical success and found itself on many Best-Of lists of 2010. This album's strength lies in Big Boi's ability to seamlessly combine and bend genres. He manages to combine Funk, R&B, soul, southern hip hop and a few others without it ever seeming too busy or forced. Each song is produced by a different artist (surprisingly, Lil Jon's contribution is especially good--he should consider producing full time) so I imagine this has a lot to do with the album's diverse musical landscape (soundscape?). My favorite song from the album was "Fo Yo Sorrows." It was produced by Organized Noize and features Too Short, Sam Chris and fucking George Clinton. Clinton's influence on hip-hop can never be understated and I guess Big Boi realized that the most efficient way to pay tribute to someone is by featuring him on (arguably) the best song on your first solo album. I'd go on and talk about how it captures the tone of the rest of the album...but you can see for yourself.