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| Last year Atlanta's Organized Noize cartel completed its campaign ofhip hop conquest with OutKast's acclaimed and best-sellingAquemini. But in a world where new albums often gestate foryears, the Dirty Southerners worried the world might forgetthem. Hence the undeniableBig Boi & Dre Present. . . OutKast greatest-hits collection (Arista). And hence. . .Even in Darkness (Arista), in which OutKast,Goodie Mob, and such allies and satellites as Backbone, Witchdoctor,and Bubba Sparxx coalesce into the newly dubbed DungeonFamily. Between its infectious spirit and its singular sonics, thisimpressive stopgap cements Organized Noize's claim to reincarnateParliament-Funkadelic. Amid a profusion of excellent rappers, thevocal standout is Goodie Mob's high-voiced Cee-Lo. But as with P-Funk,the real star is an instantly identifiable groove as welcoming andcomplicated as any verbal interaction. On her second album,Missundazstood (Arista),Philadelphia's Pink proves herself a woman among girls. An MTV staplewhose commercial turf is teenpop, Pink collaborated for many of thesesongs with Linda Perry of the long-gone 4 Non Blondes. It's herstrength and our luck that she dominates a rock move clearly initiatedso she could write midtempo personal meditations, an approach shebrings off with gratifying candor and pungency. Playboy, Dec. 2001
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