Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Reset
Outkast
Lyrics & Rhyme Analysis
28
End
139
Internal
90
Multi
174
Slant
11
Chain
Rhyme Groups — hover to spotlight
[Chorus: Debra Killings, Khujo Goodie & Big Boi]
Reset✦
Ugh
Start over✦ (Ugh, uh-huh,✦ that's right)
Again✦ (Ugh, ugh, that's right)
Ugh, that's right, that's right
Say, ugh, ugh, that's right, that's right
Everything✦ happens✦ for a reason✦ (Know that)
Good doesn't come without✦ pain
Uh-huh,✦ blood thicker than water,✦ uh-huh,✦ c'mon, c'mon, ah
That's for real, shawty,✦ why's that?
Start over✦ (We gots to do it all over✦ again)✦
Again✦ (Uh-huh,✦ ah— I don't care, do it all over✦ again)✦
We gots to do it all over✦ again✦
Ugh, uh-huh,✦ Cotton✦ Club Goodie (Cotton✦ Club Goodie!)
Everything✦ happens✦ for a reason✦ (Cotton✦ Club Goodie!)
Ugh, ugh, ugh, yeah
[Verse 2: Khujo Goodie]
Good doesn't come without✦ pain (Pain)
Meaning, before✦ it get better,✦ it's gon' get worse (Worse)
Like my homies✦ on the sick side (Side), stay dying over✦ turf
That don't belong to urse–I✦ mean "us" (Us), left in the dust (Dust)
Try to catch up with massah✦ (Massah)✦
I used✦ to wanna✦ wrap my hands around the esophagus✦ (Esophagus)✦
Of them crackers (Rah, rah)
But Ephesians 6:12 said it wasn't flesh and blood that we wrestle against
Principalities, powers✦ of this world
Rulers✦ of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places✦
So throw on the whole armor✦ of righteousness
I "Sparxxx" this thing, but my name ain't Bubba✦
I got problems with racist cab drivers, like Glover✦ ("Fuck you doing, man? My money✦ good")
And brothers that wax fat ("My money✦ ain't good? Fuck you, man")
And forget✦ all about the struggle ("Yeah, suck my dick")
[Chorus: Debra Killings, Khujo Goodie & Cee-Lo Green]
Ugh, yeah, come on, come on (Give me some help now here, shawty)✦
Guess what, guess what? Time to reset✦ this thang
Start over✦ (Ugh, to them triple-zeroes)
Again✦ (Ugh, the K-H-U-J-O)✦
G-O-O-D-I-E, Big Boi
(Cotton✦ Club Goodie) Big Boi, Big Boi
Everything✦ happens✦ for a reason✦
Good doesn't come without✦ pain
Start over✦
Again✦
Everything✦ happens✦ for a reason✦ (Listen✦ to me)
[Verse 3: Cee-Lo Green]
I awaken✦ to sunlight
That's beyond bright
This day will be done right
There is a war just waiting on the other✦ side of the door
But I'll be bringing✦ God to the gunfight
Can't live forever—so, have some fun, right?
Life's✦ a bowl of candy—you can have one, right?
You can handle if tomorrow never✦ come, right?
You get used✦ to singing,✦ if only✦ for one night
But I intend to raise two daughters and a son right
And I couldn't've wrote this if I was hopeless
And, see, I focus✦ to provoke this
So open✦ wide for my opinionated opus✦
Like playing Go Fish, but not below✦ this
Before✦ I go, I thought that you all should know this
Recognize✦ and realize✦ before✦ any✦ regretting✦
Before✦ you relapse, perhaps you'll consider resetting✦
Hmm? (Hmm?)
[Outro: Debra Killings]
Start over✦
Again✦
Everything✦ happens✦ for a reason✦
Technical Breakdown
8.3
Multisyllabic Rhymes9.5
Complexity of rhyme schemes (data-driven)
Internal Rhymes9.5
Rhymes within a line (data-driven)
Wordplay / Double Entendres6.5
Clever language, metaphors, punchlines
Cadence / Rhythm9.0
Flow variation and timing (data-driven)
Vocabulary Complexity7.0
Range and depth of words used (data-driven)
Delivery / Breath Control7.5
Performance and control
Computed Score8.27
Production
— Big BoiBe the first to rate the production
Critic Analysis
RAPLEDGER BAROMETER™
Khujo Goodie delivers a gritty, cadence-driven performance that utilizes stutter-step rhythmic structures and socio-political commentary to ground the thematic concept of 'resetting' one's perspective.
A
9.5
Multisyllabic
9.5
Internal Rhymes
9
Cadence / Flow
7
Vocabulary
6.5
Wordplay
7.5
Delivery
Syncopated cadenceSelf-correction as a rhetorical deviceMultisyllabic enjambmentInternal echo rhyming
Rhyme Architecture: The verse relies on dense, multisyllabic end-rhymes (pain/worse/turf/us/dust/massah/esophagus) punctuated by echo-stuttering that reinforces the 'reset' theme through rhythmic repetition.
Verified Doubles & Entendres
"That don't belong to urse–I mean "us""
① A phonological slip leading into the correct pronoun.② A biting critique of gang territory possession, suggesting the land ownership is so foreign or non-consequential that the speaker almost misidentifies the subjects (urse/us).
"Try to catch up with massah"
① Historical reference to the antebellum power structure.② Modern metaphor for the systemic cycle of poverty and gang violence where the 'massah' is the cycle itself, dictating the movements of those stuck on the 'sick side'.
Strong command of internal cadence variations
Effective use of the 'correction' trope to add visceral realism
High rhythmic consistency
Vocabulary choices remain somewhat utilitarian
The concluding imagery lacks the punch required for an elite-tier finish