If you’ll excuse the long way for a second, the year was 2001. I was in high school and At The Drive-In’s magnum opus had just rewired my brain about what music could be. That made me look for that same crazy energy that just wasn’t there in rock music. Then I saw it fever dream of a music video for Outkast (Songs like and fulfilling the energetic promise made in the technicolor music video will follow soon). The rest, as they say, is history, and my taste in music just got even crazier. 2000 was a good year for weirdos.
It’s been 25 years since its release, half introducing the mainstream world to the exuberance of the Atlanta music scene and half redefining it. To celebrate, iconic hip-hop duo have started cooperation with Atlanta’s Portrait coffee To “[reimagine] 25 years Stankonia by coffee.”
Announced on Friday, October 24vol, the collaboration is called Kawa Stankonia and “pays homage to the spirit of the album – funky, futuristic and uncompromising Atlanta.” On pre-sale until October 28volis a blend of coffees from Rwanda and Colombia, one experimental natural and the other washed. The medium roast coffee has notes of green apple, strawberry and brown sugar.
“It’s an honor to collaborate with Atlanta legends Massive Boi and André 3000,” says Aaron Fender, co-founder of Portrait Coffee. “This collaboration represents everything we love about Atlanta – originality, flavor and community. When we set out to create a recent narrative, moments like this exceeded our wildest expectations.”
In addition to the coffee, Portrait and Outkast are releasing a limited-edition T-shirt and bag, as well as a lunch mug and a Fellow Carter mug, all of which will be available at the Portrait store website.
But the fun doesn’t end there. October 30volPortrait’s West End Cafe will host a community celebration with “Stankonia-inspired visuals, select Southern-inspired beverages and snacks from chef Jamal Makanjuola.” Then next weekend, Portrait and Outkast will team up for “a series of community giving events, including Stankonia25’s Cascade Event at the Cascade Rink on October 30 and 25 Trees for 25 Years of Stankonia with TreesATL and Balmy 107.9 on October 31, as well as the planting of 25 trees at Tri-Cities High School, alma mater Outkast.”
If ever there was an album worthy of a 25th anniversary collaboration, it’s Outkast’s Stankonia, and there’s no roastery better suited for it than Atlanta’s Portrait Coffee. More information can be found on the Portrait website official website.
