Our southernplayalistic duo underwent quite the transformation, both personally and artistically between their debut release and this one. Big Boi became a father, an event that very much shaped the course of this album, and André quit smoking weed, became a vegetarian, and adopted the zany fashion sense we know him for today. And as for the music? After Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was bashed by certain members of the hip-hop community for not being “real hip-hop,” André and Big Boi decided to ignore the complaints and further expand the boundaries of the hip-hop genre with their sophomore release. ATLiens is a combination of “ATL”, the abbreviation for their hometown of Atlanta, and “aliens,” which spoke to the duo’s feelings of isolation due to their race, upbringing, and performing style. And it fit well on an album that effortlessly incorporated the Dirty South noise they made famous on Southernplayalistic with the spacy, futuristic beats they experimented with on this album. Organized Noize produced two-thirds of the album while André 3000 and Big Boi handled the rest of the production along with Mr. DJ as the Earthtone III. This marked the first time either of them produced for themselves. The lead single, “Elevators (Me & You),” features a catchy chorus and memorable final verse from André, leading the song to the top of the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart and a peak of position at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The remaining singles included the title track, and a remixed version of “Jazzy Belle” featuring their LaFace label boss, Babyface. The album peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 in its first week and went on to achieve multi-platinum status.