I gotta give props out to the good folks from Hotlanta.. In particular Dre and Big Boi of the group Outkast. As you know they've been setting things a blaze with their current single 'Elevators' especially the Crazy C remix. In fact the record is almost platinum. I gotta chance to hang out with them the other day when they were here in the Bay Area..We did a taping for Video Fusion which airs in Palo Alto. Folks all I can say is that these brothers are down to earth and a joy to work with... What impressed me most was how sharp they are.. If you take a look at the video to Elevators you can easily see that these brothers are deep. Once you speak to them, you find that they've given a lot of thought to some relevant issues..

I mention this because it seems like there are so many artists that are so into their 'gangsta' or 'thuggish' image that they forget to let folks see and hear how intelligent they really are.. There's this misguided notion that has been held by more then a few artists that says they've somehow sold out if they act like they have some common sense. Hence you get these hip hop artist who roll through your radio station for an interview or show up for your video show and they act ill.. They do this all in the name of being 'down' or in some cases to prove their 'Blackness'..

With Outkast, these brothers make no bones about being from the hood, but they ain't walking around town trying to front like that defines their manhood. Props to them for being a welcome breath of fresh air. In fact that's what Dre explained Outkast is all about..trying to flip the script and breath new life into hip hop which they feel has become stagnant. The whole Organized Noise family which includes Outkast, Goodie Mood, Mista and Society Of Soul are helping expand the boundaries of hip hop. Their sound and approach is making this music head down the path toward another golden age.. Included in this sound are live instruments so we don't have to hear the same old samples. We hear some tight lyrics that are saying something. And of course we have some sort of social consciousness.

I got a chance to peep out the Outkast lp Ataliens and let me tell you it's the bomb..I'm talking pure butta... I heard songs off the lp that'll make Elevators sound wack and that's not no industry hype.. Their next single should be a song that features their dj.. I forgot the name but it's on point.. Also I wanna give Outkast props for the show they did at the DNA Lounge.. They definitely blew up the spot.

Another group that's down with this whole Organized Noise clique which I gotta speak on is Society Of Soul. To me they represent a whole new style of hip hop soul. Their lp entitled 'Brain Child' is seriously being overlooked.. I don't know if it's the label, djs or just folks in general..or maybe it's all of us who are slippin'. But this lp is the off the hook and I can't say enough about it. Songs like 'Changes' and 'Migratenation' are on point and I just wanna make sure folks get with Society Of Soul. I know for myself, I'm definitely gonna step to the label, because I sat in on this conference call last week which included LA Reid who owns La Face record which is Society of Soul's home... Reid spoke on all his groups from TLC to Toni Braxton..but he didn't mention Society Of Soul... It pains me to see good acts being overlooked...especially when the act is doing something positive. Society of Soul is on that tip. Again they are America's best kept secret.