With the album, Outkast wanted to make a statement about urban life as an African American in the South, particularly Atlanta. Written when they were teenagers, much of the album addresses coming of age topics, and has themes of self-empowerment and reflections on life in the New South. "Encyclopedia of Popular Music" editor Colin Larkin writes that the album "compris tales of the streets of their local East Point and Decatur neighbourhoods". The album's segue tracks illustrate Southern life. The lyrics incorporate tongue-twisters, triplet rhyme schemes, repetitive vocal hooks, Southern slang, such as the recurring phrase "ain't no thang but a chicken wing" repeated throughout "Ain't No Thang". The duo also intersperse their lyrics with references to classic cars, marijuana use, , and players, which Big Boi defines as "somebody who can take care of they business in the game, the game of life". His flow is frenetic and has a rapid delivery, while André 3000 raps in a more relaxed cadence, with staccato rhymes, and occasionally sings on the album. Writer Martin C. Strong views that both rappers' "lyrical panache" on the album has an "ebb and flow" similar to Kool Keith and Del the Funky Homosapien.