Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico DustyDef Jam ****

The conventional wisdom about OutKast is that Antwan “Big Boi” Patton is the more straight-up hip-hop solider. While Andre 3000 gets on with his hustle in the film and fashion worlds, Big Boi rears pedigree pitbulls on a ranch outside Atlanta.

Yet Patton is also capable of turning that perception on its head (ballet collaborations tend to do that) and this much-delayed solo album adds further lustre to his reputation as a maverick soul and free-spirited sonic buccaneer. There are infectious hooks, snappy beats and large choruses galore, as Patton throws down wildly inventive pop music without caring how odd it might also sound. Aside from his slick, sumptuous outlaw funk, the swaggering rhymes, finely tuned guests (Janelle Monae, B.o.B, even Jamie Foxx sounds swish here) and devil-may-care attitude push the likes of Follow Usand Tangerineto the top of the queue. See bigboi.com

Download tracks: Follow Us, Shutterbug