.

Song Stories

“Shutterbugg”

Big Boi feat. Cutty | 2010

"Shutterbugg" marked OutKast member Big Boi's first solo work, seven years after the chart-topping double-disc album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The bubbling electro beat features a low-end, voice-like bassline, and singer-rapper Cutty buttresses Big Boi's nimble rapping on the chorus. The concept is "capturing the moment," according to Big Boi, "whether it be your kid's first steps or you got a Polaroid and you with your lady somewhere...It's a funky, get-down, slap-your-sister-in-the-mouth jam."

prev
Song Stories Main Next

blog comments powered by Disqus

Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

More Song Stories entries »