Ms. Jackson is an undeniable classic.

It’s a rare thing to have something that crosses over into the main stream but still retains the seriousness of where it came from. Ms. Jackson has huge mainstream pop appeal. There chorus is catchy and everyone knows the words because it’s just a couple of lines repeated throughout the song. At the same time, lyrically it’s iconic from Big Boi and Andre 3000.

Andre 3000 is generally considered to be one of the top rappers of all time but for me, Big Boi is a bit more consistent as a traditional rapper. The reason OutKast work, in my opinion is the solid foundation of Big Boi that allows Andre 3000 to do the more experimental stuff. Ms. Jackson is one of the best examples of that in my opinion.

On top of everything else, Ms. Jackson is a cool song because it’s very real. It’s a real situation for lots of people where there’s a breakdown of a relationship but there’s kids in the middle of things.

Listen to Ms. Jackson by OutKast here.