Editing Aquemini (section)

==Musical style and lyrics==
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 |quote  = OutKast wore their musical connections easily, and sometimes literally. The references to 70s funk and soul weren't just in the deep, colour-saturated funk underpinning the whole album&nbsp;... It's also a very musical album. Sure, there are samples, but it's mostly real musicians playing guitars and horns, or in the case of the charmingly named South Central Chamber Orchestra, strings and woodwind.
 |source = Emma Warren of ''[[The Guardian]]'', on the record's musical style.<ref name=Guardian/>
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Big Boi described the music on the album as "very experimental"<ref name="remembers"/> noting that it featured live instrumentation that included horns, guitar, piano, and harmonica.<ref name="chictrib"/> [[AllMusic]]'s Steve Huey detected the "ethereal futurism" of ''ATLiens'' in the music on ''Aquemini'', but also noted that "more often ''Aquemini'' plants its feet on the ground for a surprisingly down-home flavor".<ref name=Allmusic/> He also observed a "Southern earthiness and simultaneous spirituality" in Organized Noize's production work on the record.<ref name=Allmusic/> According to Rashod D. Ollison of ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'', the album "fus[es] organic [[soul music|soul]] and [[progressive rap]] with touches of [[electro-funk]], [[dub music|dub]] and [[rock music|rock]]".<ref>{{cite news|last=Ollison|first=Rashod D.|date=April 8, 2004|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2004-04-08-0404070476-story.html|title=Dusting off some classics to keep in the CD player|newspaper=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|access-date=August 21, 2021}}</ref> Similarly, ''[[The Boombox]]'' writer Todd "Stereo" Williams says the music fuses their debut album's raw funk with the "futuristic soul" of ''ATLiens'' for a sound that "genre-hop[s] from southern rap odes ('West Savannah') to flirtations with [[P-Funk]] ('Synthesizer'), hard rock guitars ('Chonkyfire')", and collaborations beyond the duo's core of [[Dungeon Family]] artists.<ref name="boombox"/> ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' stated that the album draws from [[southern soul]], [[gospel music|gospel]], and [[country music|country]], and noted that it "favors live-band sounds without making the purist’s mistake of shunning synthetic ones," praising both "Preston Crump’s mellow, sustained basslines and the swing-friendly drum tracks of Mr. DJ and Organized Noize."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Powell |first1=Mike |title=Atlanta to Atlantis: An OutKast Retrospective |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9253-atlanta-to-atlantis-an-outkast-retrospective/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=25 January 2022}}</ref>

Lyrically, much of ''Aquemini'' features introspection about the desolation of the [[human condition]],<ref name="LA Times"/> and themes related to [[individuality]] and [[self-determination]].<ref name="bill2018"/> Overarching themes addressed on the record include [[drug addiction]], precarious [[Interpersonal relationship|relationships]], and freedom from self-inflicted struggles.<ref name="chictrib">{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/10/25/outkastaquemini-lafacearistaas-one-of-the-first-southern/|title=OutKast Aquemini (LaFace/Arista)|last=Baker|first=Soren|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=October 25, 1998|access-date=January 28, 2014}}</ref> Other subjects include excessive reliance on technology and the Atlanta club scene.<ref name="remembers"/> On the record, the group often shifts between [[science fiction]]-inspired topics and the harsh realities of urban life.<ref name=yaleherald>{{cite news|url=http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxvi/11.13.98/ae/outkasst.html|title=Records: OutKast's Aquemini|last=Austerlitz|first=Saul|access-date=May 10, 2014|work=[[Yale Herald]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218064817/http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxvi/11.13.98/ae/outkasst.html|archive-date=December 18, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Saul Austerlitz of the ''[[Yale Herald]]'' notes the central theme of the group's "ability to move between two worlds—the [[G-funk]] glamorized by the [[The Notorious B.I.G.|Notorious B.I.G.]] and [[Tupac Shakur]] and the group's own spacier, more poetic excursions" in the album.<ref name=yaleherald/> Another theme is the duality of the two members and their differing personalities, with Big Boi as "the player" and Andre 3000 as "the poet", according to the album's cover.<ref name=yaleherald/> Big Boi generally covers the more conventional hip-hop topics such as his childhood in the South and attractive women, while Andre 3000 discusses more unorthodox themes.<ref name="citypages">{{cite web|url=http://www.citypages.com/1998-10-14/music/outkast-aquemini/full/|title=OutKast: Aquemini|last=Herrington|first=Chris|date=October 14, 1998|access-date=May 10, 2014|work=City Pages|publisher=[[Voice Media Group]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512223320/http://www.citypages.com/1998-10-14/music/outkast-aquemini/full/|archive-date=May 12, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> In contrast to much of hip hop music in the late 1990s, OutKast did not tone down the regional qualities, like the [[harmonica]] break on "Rosa Parks" and distinctive [[Atlanta]] slang and diction throughout. The duo experimented with several delivery styles on the record, using "relaxed, hyper, distorted, speedy and conversational presentations."<ref name="LA Times"/>