Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 11, 2012 | |||
Recorded | 2011–12 | |||
Studio | Stankonia Recording, Atlanta | |||
Genre | Hip hop [1] | |||
Length | 54:33 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer |
| |||
Big Boi chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors | ||||
|
Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors is the second studio album by American rapper Big Boi, released on December 11, 2012, [2] by Purple Ribbon Records and Def Jam Recordings. The album features guest appearances from Sleepy Brown, Phantogram, T.I., Ludacris, Kid Cudi, Little Dragon, Killer Mike, Kelly Rowland, ASAP Rocky, B.o.B, Wavves, Mouche, Scar, Bosko, Jai Paul, UGK, Big K.R.I.T., Theophilus London, and Tre Luce.
In a July 2010 interview for The Village Voice , Big Boi revealed that he was working on the follow-up album to the critically and commercially successful Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty , stating that he was "maybe about six songs into it". [3] On May 24, 2012, Big Boi announced that he was about 80% complete with his next solo release. He also revealed that both he and André 3000 would be releasing solo projects prior to any Outkast project. [4] On May 27, 2012, Big Boi announced that the album would be entitled Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors [5] On June 9, 2012, Big Boi announced via Twitter that the album would be released on November 13, 2012. [6] However, on November 1, 2012, after revealing the cover art, the album was pushed back to December 11, 2012. [7]
On October 1, 2012, the first single "Mama Told Me" featuring Kelly Rowland was released. [7] The album features guest appearances from Sleepy Brown, Phantogram, T.I., Ludacris, Kid Cudi, Little Dragon, Killer Mike, Kelly Rowland, ASAP Rocky, B.o.B, Wavves, Mouche, Scar, Bosko, Jai Paul, UGK, Big K.R.I.T., Theophilus London, and Tre Luce. [8] On November 9, 2012, Big Boi debuted "Lines" featuring ASAP Rocky and Phantogram on his soundcloud account to a very good reception. The track had received over 100,000 listens on soundcloud in just over a day upon release. [9] The album is noticeably lacking from any Andre 3000 features with Big Boi saying he had sent Dre over 5 songs he could've gotten on but "contractual obligations" kept him from doing them. [10]
Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors has a maximalist production style and music that incorporates aggressive Southern hip hop, Detroit basslines, indie sounds, [11] and funk. [1] Its songs are characterized by strong hooks. [12] Ted Scheinman of Slant Magazine finds it to be exemplary of a recent "collusion between rap and indie acts", and calls the album "profoundly atmospheric, not in the triumphalist Kanye [West] vein, but with enough melodic hooks on which to hang songs that are both thumping and bittersweet." [11] Pitchfork Media's Miles Raymer attributes the album's stylistic influences to Big Boi's past few years performing at festivals with indie rock and electronic acts, writing that it may be viewed as "an outgrowth of rap's artsy ambitions" or "a compilation of indietronic-rap fusion tied together by one voice". [13]
Big Boi's lyrics explore carnal and emotional subject matter such as relationships. He raps with a confident, morally transparent persona and a polyvocal delivery that uses devices such as enjambment and deconstructionism. [11] Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly characterizes Big Boi's lyrics on the album as "purple psychedelic prose". [1]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [14] |
The A.V. Club | B+ [15] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [1] |
Fact | [16] |
The Guardian | [17] |
NME | 6/10 [18] |
Pitchfork | 6.1/10 [13] |
Rolling Stone | [19] |
Slant Magazine | [11] |
Spin | 7/10 [20] |
Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72, based on 32 reviews. [21] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone commended Big Boi for bringing his disparate collaborators "together in harmony" and found "even more" impressive "the ease with which Big Boi insinuates his smack-talking, game-kicking self into their midst". [19] Will Butler of The A.V. Club asserted that the album "delivers" as a "feel-good record", with Big Boi "at his most selfless, honest, and exploratory now". [15] Jon Pareles of The New York Times felt that, "even in Outkast, Big Boi was never merely a macho cartoon; now, he's revealing he's a grown-up." [22] Slant Magazine 's Ted Scheinman commented that the album's "reflexive eclecticism ... coheres on the strength" of Big Boi's rapping and felt that, "in the best sense, it's the conspicuous work of a magnanimous music lover". [11] Dan Cairns of The Sunday Times called it a "multi-genre riot" and commented that it "demolishes the perception" of Big Boi as the uneccentric foil to André 3000. [23] John Calvert of Fact called it "glossy, overwhelmingly kinetic and neon-colourful ... arguably the pop hip-hop production job of the year," and wrote that each of its "innumerable hooks" are "textured, accentuated and arranged in just such a way that they jump out at the listener like musical holograms." [16]
In a mixed review, AllMusic's Andy Kellman was ambivalent towards Big Boi's collaborations and "inharmonious experiments", writing that he "adapts to the unfamiliar surroundings with little effort and often sounds comfortable, but the fusions are short on power." [14] Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian called it "a good album in need of a brutal trim" and felt that "its over-reliance on guests blunts the clear ambition". [17] David Amidon of PopMatters found it to be an "awkward" listen similar to Common's 2002 album Electric Circus , but emphasized "how fun most of this music is even as it feels weird to hear Big Boi hopping on top of [it]." [24] Miles Raymer of Pitchfork critiqued that the album is "on the one hand a genre-busting statement of artistic restlessness" but also "a mess", and found Big Boi's "dextrous, technically capable" rapping to be its "saving grace". [13] MSN Music's Robert Christgau gave the album a one-star honorable mention, [25] indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like." [26] He cited "Apple of My Eye" and "She Hates Me" as highlights and quipped that Big Boi "claims hip-hop, represents r&b, ends up neither here nor there". [25]
The album debuted at number 34 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 30,000 copies in the United States. [27] As of January 30, 2013, the album had sold 61,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. [28]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Ascending" | Andy Slagle | 1:09 | |
2. | "The Thickets" (featuring Sleepy Brown) |
|
| 2:48 |
3. | "Apple of My Eye" |
| Mr. DJ [30] | 3:44 |
4. | "Objectum Sexuality" (featuring Phantogram) |
| Phantogram [31] | 4:49 |
5. | "In the A" (featuring T.I. and Ludacris) |
|
| 5:20 |
6. | "She Hates Me" (featuring Kid Cudi) |
|
| 3:50 |
7. | "CPU" (featuring Phantogram) |
|
| 4:12 |
8. | "Thom Pettie" (featuring Little Dragon and Killer Mike) |
|
| 3:25 |
9. | "Mama Told Me" (featuring Kelly Rowland) |
|
| 3:10 |
10. | "Lines" (featuring ASAP Rocky and Phantogram) |
|
| 3:24 |
11. | "Shoes for Running" (featuring B.o.B and Wavves) |
| 3:50 | |
12. | "Raspberries" (featuring Mouche and Scar) |
| Arthur McArthur | 3:41 |
13. | "Tremendous Damage" (featuring Bosko) |
|
| 5:21 |
14. | "Descending" (featuring Little Dragon) |
|
| 5:50 |
Total length: | 54:33 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
15. | "Higher Res" (featuring Jai Paul and Little Dragon) | Jai Paul | 2:23 | |
16. | "Gossip" (featuring UGK and Big K.R.I.T.) |
|
| 4:09 |
17. | "She Said OK" (featuring Theophilus London and Tre Luce) |
|
| 3:57 |
Total length: | 65:02 |
Credits for Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors adapted from Allmusic. [37]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Bernard James Freeman, known professionally as Bun B, is an American rapper. He is best known as one half of the southern rap duo UGK, a group he formed in 1987 alongside Pimp C. Aside from his work with UGK, Bun B has released five solo albums, including 2010's Trill OG, which received the rare 5-mic rating from The Source.
"International Players Anthem (I Choose You)" is a song by American hip hop duo UGK, released on June 6, 2007, as the second single from their fifth studio album Underground Kingz (2007). The song, produced by DJ Paul and Juicy J of Three 6 Mafia, features verses from fellow Southern hip hop duo Outkast.
The discography of Bun B, an American rapper, and one half of Southern hip hop group UGK, along with the late Pimp C.
The discography of American rapper Big Boi consists of three studio albums, one mixtape, twenty-two singles, five promotional singles and twenty-five music videos. Big Boi initially achieved success as a member of the hip hop duo Outkast with fellow rapper André 3000; they have recorded and released six studio albums together, and the singles "Ms. Jackson", "Hey Ya!" and "The Way You Move" have all topped the US Billboard Hot 100. Big Boi guest appeared on the 1995 single "Dirty South" by Atlanta-based hip hop group Goodie Mob, which entered the Billboard Hot 100. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, he made other appearances on commercially successful singles including "All n My Grill" by Missy Elliott, "A.D.I.D.A.S." by Killer Mike and "Girlfight" by Brooke Valentine—each likewise entered the Billboard Hot 100.
Jeremy McArthur, known professionally as Arthur McArthur, is a Grammy-nominated Canadian record producer from Toronto, Ontario. A classically trained piano and guitar player, he has been involved in music producing since 2008. He has worked with artists such as Drake, Big Boi, Rick Ross, Tyga, Big Sean, Kelly Rowland, Dr. Dre, and Logic, among others.
Outkast was an American hip hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi and André 3000. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential hip hop acts of all time, the duo achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, helping to popularize Southern hip hop with their intricate lyricism, memorable melodies, and positive themes, while experimenting with a diverse range of genres such as funk, psychedelia, jazz, and techno.
Justin Lewis Scott, better known by his stage name Big K.R.I.T., is an American rapper and record producer. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, he began his musical career in 2005. He was signed to Def Jam Recordings by Sha Money XL in 2010, and first gained recognition following the release of his single "Country Shit" in September of that year. The following year, he guest appeared on T.I.'s promotional single "I'm Flexin'", which became Scott's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.
Live from the Underground is the debut studio album by American rapper and record producer Big K.R.I.T. It was released on June 5, 2012, by Cinematic Music Group and Def Jam Recordings. As one of the executive producers on the album, Big K.R.I.T. did the production work for the entirety of the project. The album was supported by four singles: "Money on the Floor", "I Got This", "Yeah Dat's Me" and "What U Mean".
The Stoned Immaculate is the sixth studio album by American hip hop recording artist Curren$y. It was released through Warner Bros. Records on June 5, 2012. This release was his first "major" release through Warner Bros. The album features guest appearances from Pharrell, Wiz Khalifa, Estelle, 2 Chainz, Wale, Marsha Ambrosius, Daz Dillinger, Big K.R.I.T., Fiend, Corner Boy P, Young Roddy, Trademark da Skydiver, and Smoke DZA.
Gravity is the sixth studio album by American Christian hip hop artist Lecrae, released on September 4, 2012. The album features appearances from Big K.R.I.T., Mathai, Ashthon Jones, Sho Baraka and Mali Music, along with labelmates Trip Lee, Andy Mineo, Derek Minor, who was formerly known as PRo, and Tedashii. Producers on the album include DJ Khalil, Street Symphony along with his production team Heat Academy, and The Watchmen. The first single off the album, "I Know", was released on July 24, 2012, and was followed by "Tell the World" featuring Mali Music on August 15, 2012, and "Mayday" featuring Big K.R.I.T. and Ashthon Jones on August 30, 2012. Reach Records released five music videos for the album: "Lord Have Mercy", featuring Tedashii along with No Malice of Clipse, on August 1, 2012, "Tell the World", featuring Mali Music, on October 19, 2012, "Mayday", featuring Big K.R.I.T. and Ashthon Jones, on December 13, 2012, "Fakin'", featuring Thi'sl, on February 1, 2013, and "Confe$$ions", featuring David Banner, on April 30, 2013.
Tauheed K. Epps, known professionally as 2 Chainz, is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Circle, alongside hometown rapper Earl "Dolla Boy" Conyers. The duo signed with fellow Georgia-based rapper Ludacris' Disturbing tha Peace label and became best known for their 2007 debut single "Duffle Bag Boy".
"1 Train" is a song by American hip hop recording artist ASAP Rocky from his debut studio album, Long. Live. ASAP (2013). The song was produced by Hit-Boy, and features additional verses from fellow American rappers Kendrick Lamar, Joey Badass, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson, and Big K.R.I.T. The song is a posse cut created to feel like an "original '90s underground track." Upon the release of the album, high downloads resulted in the song peaking at number three on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.
The discography of American rapper and recording artist Killer Mike consists of six studio albums, three collaborative albums, five mixtapes and eleven singles.
"Mama Told Me" is a song by American rapper Big Boi featuring singer Kelly Rowland, released as the lead single from his second studio album, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors (2012). Co-written by Swedish synth-pop group Little Dragon, who appeared on the original version of the song, it is a 1980s electro funk record that serves as an ode to Big Boi's mother. Production on the song was handled by The Flush, while co-production was handled by Chris Carmouche and Big Boi himself.
Trill OG: The Epilogue is the fourth studio album by American rapper Bun B. The album was released on November 11, 2013, by II Trill Enterprises, Rap-A-Lot Records and RED Music. The album features guest appearances from Big K.R.I.T., Lil' O, Pimp C, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Raekwon, Kobe, Royce da 5'9", Z-Ro, Big Hawk, Lil Boosie, E.S.G., Redman, Kirko Bangz, Devin the Dude, Max Frost, Trae tha Truth, C-Note, Serani and Gator Main.
Cadillactica is the second studio album by American rapper Big K.R.I.T. It was released on November 10, 2014, by Cinematic Music Group and Def Jam Recordings. The album features guest appearances from Raphael Saadiq, E-40, Wiz Khalifa, Kenneth Whalum III, Mara Hruby, Rico Love, Bun B, Devin the Dude, Big Sant, Jamie N Commons, Lupe Fiasco and ASAP Ferg.
VII is the debut studio album by American recording artist Teyana Taylor. The album was released on November 4, 2014, by Def Jam Recordings and GOOD Music. Leading up to the album's release, Teyana released the mixtape The Misunderstanding of Teyana Taylor (2012), along with collaborating on the GOOD Music compilation album Cruel Summer (2012). The album features guest appearances from Chris Brown, Fabolous, Pusha T and Yo Gotti. The album was executively produced by Che Pope & Teyana Taylor. Recording took place at Jungle City Studios in New York & KMA Studios, NYC, as well as The Kennedy Compound in North Hollywood, California & Labren Studio in Inglewood, CA.
HipHopDX is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. HipHopDX has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath Cherian and the Head of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. HipHopDX is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. HipHopDX can be found on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
Antwan André Patton, known professionally as Big Boi, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Savannah, Georgia and raised in Atlanta, he was one half of the Southern hip hop duo Outkast along with rapper André 3000, which the two formed in 1992.
Big Grams is the self-titled debut EP by American hip hop trio Big Grams, which consists of rapper Big Boi and electronic rock duo Phantogram. The EP was released on September 25, 2015, by Epic Records.