The title is a portmanteau of the two performers' Zodiac signs: Aquarius (Big Boi) and Gemini (André 3000), which is indicative of the album's recurring theme of the differing personalities of the two members.

Released as the follow-up to the duo's commercially successful 1996 album ATLiens, Aquemini expands on the previous record's outer space-inspired compositions by incorporating live instrumentation and drawing on 1970s funk, southern soul, gospel, country, psychedelic rock, and other influences.

Lyrically, Aquemini explores various subjects including individuality, human nature, addiction, self-inflicted struggles, technology, and interpersonal relationships, as well as blending science fiction concepts and urban narratives.

[7] On ATLiens, André 3000 and Big Boi abandoned the "hard-partying playa characters" of their debut album in favor of personas that were more futuristic, and produced many of the songs on their own for the first time.

[12] After the release of ATLiens, André 3000 entered a relationship with the neo soul singer Erykah Badu, who was part of a burgeoning movement in the urban music scene described as "more bohemian than ghetto".

[13] André 3000 adopted a more flamboyant style of dress during performances in promotion of ATLiens that included large glasses, blond wigs, and marching band uniforms.

"[15] For Aquemini, the duo used live instrumentation and improvisation, bringing a baby grand piano into the studio and hiring musicians who played "everything from stoner funk to prog rock".

Sure, there are samples, but it's mostly real musicians playing guitars and horns, or in the case of the charmingly named South Central Chamber Orchestra, strings and woodwind.

Big Boi described the music on the album as "very experimental"[15] noting that it featured live instrumentation that included horns, guitar, piano, and harmonica.

[20] According to Rashod D. Ollison of The Baltimore Sun, the album "fus[es] organic soul and progressive rap with touches of electro-funk, dub and rock".

[21] Similarly, The Boombox writer Todd "Stereo" Williams says the music fuses their debut album's raw funk with the "futuristic soul" of ATLiens for a sound that "genre-hop[s] from southern rap odes ('West Savannah') to flirtations with P-Funk ('Synthesizer'), hard rock guitars ('Chonkyfire')", and collaborations beyond the duo's core of Dungeon Family artists.

[3] Pitchfork stated that the album draws from southern soul, gospel, and country, and noted that it "favors live-band sounds without making the purist’s mistake of shunning synthetic ones," praising both "Preston Crump’s mellow, sustained basslines and the swing-friendly drum tracks of Mr. DJ and Organized Noize.

[26] In contrast to much of hip hop music in the late 1990s, OutKast did not tone down the regional qualities, like the harmonica break on "Rosa Parks" and distinctive Atlanta slang and diction throughout.

"[23] Aquemini's opening track "Hold On, Be Strong" was written by the session guitarist Donny Mathis and originally conceived as a full song with verses, but the group preferred to only use the refrain.

[14] "Return of the G" addresses concerns from fans who felt that the group's style had changed too drastically since the release of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, as well as those who make poor decisions in order to keep their street credibility.

[30] "Da Art of Storytellin' (Part 1)" tells the story of a self-destructive childhood friend named Sasha Thumper who dies of a drug overdose.

[14] Following is "Mamacita", which features Dungeon Crew rapper Masada in a meditation on male-female relationships, inspired by an ex-girlfriend of André 3000 who began pursuing women after their breakup.

[14] "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" relates a story of ill-fated romance, with André 3000 describing the infatuation during an encounter with a woman at a club and Big Boi noting the hopelessness of the relationship as the song progresses.

[33] The album closes with "Chonkyfire", which features a fuzzy guitar riff and snippets from OutKast's speech at the 1995 Source Awards in which the group emphasized the Southern hip-hop scene as a legitimate subgenre.

"[35] Although the duo recalls being "heartbroken" at the time, André 3000 and Big Boi continued to work on ideas for a collaborative film, eventually resulting in the 2006 musical Idlewild starring the group.

[40] The lawsuit was dismissed on first amendment grounds that year by a federal judge, but the appeals court partially reinstated the suit in 2003, stating that the group must have an artistic reason for titling the song with her name.

[40] The case was settled in 2005 with OutKast and LaFace Records agreeing to create educational programs to "enlighten today's youth about the significant role Rosa Parks played in making America a better place for all races.

[20] Robert Christgau also commented positively on the album, calling the record "evolved G-funk with denser instrumental crosstalk"[4] and "rap-rock every bit as heavy as the bohrium and dubnium compounds hardheads hyped circa the Judgment Night soundtrack".

"[46] Tony Green of Spin said that although they are not as spiritual as Goodie Mob, Outkast's "streetcorner signifying" offers listeners more than simple musical pleasure and that they "have crafted some of the most seductive and dramadelic textures.

Braxton called Aquemini "a brilliant record" and commented that it "possesses an uncanny blend of sonic beauty, poignant lyricism and spirituality that compels without commanding".

"[51] Dave Hughes, writing in Slant Magazine, stated: "Ten years on, Aquemini is the single strongest aspect of one of the art form's deepest benches.

The staff explained the inclusion by stating: "OutKast unleashed an explosive hip-hop that deployed live musicians, social commentary and a heavy dose of deep funk".

[70] Steve Huey wrote: "Aquemini fulfills all its ambitions, covering more than enough territory to qualify it as a virtuosic masterpiece, and a landmark hip-hop album of the late '90s".

[23] Rolling Stone wrote that "Atlanta's reputation as hip-hop's most avant-garde area code – the Long Island of the Nineties – was cemented" with this effort,[53] while Troy L. Smith of Cleveland.com said it was "a true game-changer for [Southern hip hop] and Outkast".

[18] Tim Stelloh of PopMatters felt that "Aquemini far surpassed OutKast's previous release A-tliens [sic], and made the group one of those rare commercial anomalies—kind of like Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, or Public Enemy".