| ATLiens | ||||
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| Released | August 27, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | 1994–1996 | |||
| Studio | Bosstown Recording Studios, Doppler, PatchWerk Recording, Purple Dragon Studios, Studio LaCoCo (Atlanta, Georgia) Chung King, Sound On Sound Recording (New York City, New York) | |||
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| Length | 57:23 | |||
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| Outkast chronology | ||||
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| Singles from ATLiens | ||||
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ATLiens is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on August 27, 1996, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. From 1995 to 1996, Outkast recorded ATLiens in sessions at several Atlanta studios—Bosstown Recording Studios, Doppler Recording Studios, PatchWerk Recording Studio, Purple Dragon Studios, and Studio LaCoCo—as well as Chung King Recording Studio and Sound On Sound Recording in New York City.
The album features outer space-inspired production sounds, with Outkast and producers Organized Noize incorporating elements of dub and gospel into the compositions. Several songs feature the duo's first attempts at producing music by themselves. Lyrically, the group discusses a wide range of topics, including urban life as hustlers, existential introspection, and extraterrestrial life. The album's title is a portmanteau of "ATL" (an abbreviation of Atlanta, Georgia, the duo’s hometown) and "aliens", which has been interpreted by critics as a commentary about the feeling of being isolated from American culture.[citation needed]
ATLiens debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, and it sold nearly 350,000 copies in its first two weeks of release. The album was very well received by music critics upon its release, who praised its unique sound and lyrical content. It has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of two million copies in the United States. The album spawned the singles "Elevators (Me & You)", "ATLiens" / "Wheelz of Steel", and "Jazzy Belle". Since its release, ATLiens has been listed by several magazines and critics as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.