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. Numerous publications proclaimed the album as one of the best records of 2003, placing it atop their year-end listings. A commercial success, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below became Outkast's first number-one album on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 509,000 units, and went on to be certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in December 2004.[b] At the 46th Annual Grammy Awards (2004), the album won Album of the Year and Best Rap Album, becoming only the second hip hop album ever to win the former. It produced five singles, two of which—"Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move"—topped the US Billboard Hot 100, and made Outkast the first duo in the chart's history to replace themselves at the summit. Furthermore, "Hey Ya!" won the Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance. "Roses" reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well, peaking at number nine, while "GhettoMusick" and "Prototype" failed to achieve substantial success.
Outkast heavily promoted Speakerboxxx/The Love Below via interviews and televised performances, often separately, as the album was marketed as a consolidation of Big Boi and André 3000's solo records. The strategy elicited intense media speculation over the duo's disbandment, which the members consistently denied. The musical film Idlewild was originally slated to accompany the album, but was postponed multiple times before being released in 2006, after which Outkast embarked on an extended hiatus. Consequently, a multitude of critics have recognized Speakerboxxx/The Love Below as a signal of Outkast's cessation, but nonetheless hailed the album as one of the best recordings of its era. The album has been further credited for reviving the double album concept in hip-hop, as well as for popularizing conscious hip-hop. Following its RIAA certification update to 13-times platinum in 2023, signifying double-disc units of 6.5 million in the US, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below became the highest-certified rap album of all time. As of September 2023, it has sold over 11 million copies worldwide.
