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Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors is the second solo album by American rapper Big Boi, released on December 11, 2012, 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.

Background

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". Big Boi announced on May 24, 2012, 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. On May 27, 2012, Big Boi announced that the album would be entitled Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors On June 9, 2012, Big Boi announced via Twitter that the album would be released on November 13, 2012. However, on November 1, 2012, after revealing the cover art, the album was pushed back to December 11, 2012.

On October 1, 2012, the first single "Mama Told Me" featuring Kelly Rowland was released. 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. 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. 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.

Music and lyrics

Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors has a maximalist production style and music that incorporates aggressive Southern hip hop, Detroit basslines, indie sounds, and funk. Its songs are characterized by strong hooks. 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 vein, but with enough melodic hooks on which to hang songs that are both thumping and bittersweet." 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".

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. Kyle Anderson of Entertainment Weekly characterizes Big Boi's lyrics on the album as "purple psychedelic prose".

Reception

Criticial response

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
The A.V. Club	B+
Entertainment Weekly	A–
Fact
The Guardian
NME	6/10
Pitchfork Media	6.1/10
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Spin	7/10

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. 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". 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". 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." 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". 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. 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."

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." 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". 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 ." Miles Raymer of Pitchfork Media 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". MSN Music's Robert Christgau gave the album a one-star honorable mention, indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like." 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".

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 34 on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 30,000 copies in the United States. As of January 30, 2013, the album had sold 61,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors adapted from Allmusic.

• Chris Atlas – marketing
• Big Boi – executive producer, primary artist
• Chris Carmouche – executive producer
• Steven Defino – package design
• Brian "Big Bass" Gardner – mastering
• Marcus T. Grant – management
• Bernie Grundman – mastering
• Justin "Jus10" Huff – cover illustration, illustrations
• Tai Linzie – artwork, photo production
• Robert "The Barber" Poller – illustrations
• Sha Money XL – A&R
• Meredith Truax – photo production
• Cara Walker – package production
• Eric Weissman – sample clearance
• Andrew Zaeh – photography

References

1. ^ Anderson, Kyle (December 7, 2012). "Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors - review - Big Boi Review". Entertainment Weekly (1237). New York. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
2. "Big Boi Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors Cover". Rap Radar. November 1, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
3. Harvilla, Rob. Big Boi Is Not Too Artsy. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2010-07-06.
4. Big Boi Reveals Status of Solo Projects StraightFromTheA.com (May 24, 2011)
5. "Twitter / BigBoi: Breaking News !!!!! Title of". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
6. Big Boi Sets Release Date for Upcoming LP paste.com (June 12, 2012)
7. ^ "Big Boi Pushes Album to December, Reveals Cover Art". Rap-Up.com. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
8. Kuperstein, Slava (2012-11-08). "Big Boi Reveals Features From "Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors"". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
9. ""Lines" - Big Boi (feat. A$AP Rocky & Phantogram) by Big Boi on SoundCloud - Hear the world's sounds". Soundcloud.com. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
10. Harling, Danielle (2012-11-14). "Big Boi Says Andre 3000 Isn't On His New Album Because "He Had To Do Some Gillette Shit"". HipHop DX. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
11. ^ Scheinman, Ted (December 10, 2012). "Big Boi: Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Slant Magazine. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
12. CP (December 11, 2012). "Review: Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Billboard. New York.
13. ^ Raymer, Miles (December 10, 2012). "Big Boi: Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
14. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors - Big Boi". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
15. ^ Butler, Will (December 11, 2012). "Big Boi: Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors". The A.V. Club. Chicago. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
16. ^ Calvert, John (December 20, 2012). "Big BoiVicious - Lies And Dangerous Rumors". Fact. London. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
17. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (January 3, 2012). "Big Boi: Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors – review". The Guardian. London. section G2, p. 24. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
18. Howard, Tom (January 7, 2013). "Big Boi - 'Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors'". NME. London. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
19. ^ Vozick-Levinson, Simon (December 11, 2012). "Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
20. Peisner, David (December 11, 2012). "Big Boi, 'Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors' (Purple Ribbon/Def Jam)". Spin. New York. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
21. "Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
22. Pareles, Jon (December 11, 2012). "Swagger With a Bit Of Angst". The New York Times. p. C1. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
23. Cairns, Dan (December 16, 2012). "Pop, Rock & Jazz, Dec 16". Sunday Times. London. p. 28 (Culture supplement). Retrieved December 16, 2012. (subscription required)
24. Amidon, David (December 13, 2012). "Big Boi: Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors (take two)". PopMatters. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
25. ^ Christgau, Robert (January 25, 2013). "Odds and Ends 022". MSN Music. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
26. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Key to Icons". Robert Christgau. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
27. Grein, Paul (2012-12-19). "Week Ending Dec. 16, 2012. Albums: One Direction's Singular Achievement | Chart Watch (NEW) - Yahoo! Music". Music.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
28. "Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 1/27/2013". HipHopDX. Retrieved January 30, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
29. Brad Wete (July 20, 2012). ""Intro" - Album Preview: Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Complex. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
30. Brad Wete (July 20, 2012). ""Apple of My Eye" - Album Preview: Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Complex. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
31. Brad Wete (July 20, 2012). ""Objectum Sexuality" f/ Sarah Barthel - Album Preview: Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Complex. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
32. Brad Wete (July 20, 2012). ""She Hates Me" f/ Kid Cudi - Album Preview: Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Complex. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
33. Brad Wete (July 20, 2012). ""CPU" f/ Sarah Barthel - Album Preview: Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Complex. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
34. Brad Wete (July 20, 2012). ""Mama Told Me" f/ Little Dragon - Album Preview: Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Complex. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
35. Brad Wete (July 20, 2012). ""Lines" f/ A$AP Rocky - - Album Preview: Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Complex. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
36. Brad Wete (July 20, 2012). ""Gossip" f/ UGK & Big K.R.I.T. - Album Preview: Big Boi's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors". Complex. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
37. "Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors - Big Boi : Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 10, 2012.

External links

• Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors at AnyDecentMusic?

• Pages with empty short description
• 2012 albums
• Big Boi albums
• Albums produced by Bosko
• Albums produced by Organized Noize
• Def Jam Recordings albums