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Outkast Biography
If Outkast didn't exist it would be
impossible to invent them. The Atlanta duo have singlehandedly
re-written the rap/R&B rulebook, fusing innovative street raps with
their gritty blend of Southern soul, rolling G-funk, P-funk, house and
hip hop.
On paper, Outkast's musical blueprint shouldn't work. One star has an
image of street-smart "playa" (Big Boi) while Andre 3000's
outrageous platform heels and day-glo outfits suggest a batty bohemian
poet (or Margo Leadbetter from '70s sitcom The Good Life.) But the pair
have created a massively successful sound that draws on all aspects of
black music's legacy.
Despite giving the impression of overnight success, Outkast's recent
double album, Speakerboxx/The Love Below is infact their fifth album and
continues a carefully planned career path which has resulted in a
mantelpiece-cramming amount of awards (including two 2004 Grammys for
Best Album and Best Rap Album) and the purchase of their own recording
studio (Stankonia), their own record label, (Aquemini) and an Outkast
clothing line. (Lime green flared trousers anyone?)
The pair met in High School in Atlanta's East Point area in the early
90s where their oddball personalities quickly connected. "We were
just a tad bit different," says 28-year-old Andre Benjamin, a
single child who left his mother to move in with his father when he was
15. In contrast, Big Boi, also 28, lived with several brothers and
sisters in Savannah before moving to Atlanta as a teenager. The pair
would rap together throughout high school before forming their first
band, 2 Shades Deep. Benjamin would eventually drop out. But just before
his friend Big Boi was due to collect his high school diploma, the pair
were signed to LA Reid and Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds' Laface label.
In 1993, the pair released their first single, Player's Ball. It was an
immediate hit, referencing parts of the city and local neighbourhoods in
Atlanta. The single eventually went gold, spawning their debut album,
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik which went platinum.
Outkast's second album, ATliens, did even
better than the first, selling 1.5m copies and spawning another hit
single, Elevators (Me And You). It was during this time that Andre began
to the develop the outrageous image for which he would become famous,
graduating from pimp chic Fedora hats and flares to the kind of large
wraps, white linen and dayglo dresses usually favoured by naff '70s
sitcom actresses.
The image sat well with Outkast's space age funk and consciousness raps
but fans started to feel that Andre was perhaps 'losing it', spurring a
series of rumours from alleged drug use to homosexual behaviour that
continue to haunt him today. "Everybody want to be a thug
man," Andre told Source magazine in 1998. "But I done changed
totally. People just scared to be original." During this time,
Andre developed a romance with soul diva Erykah Badu. The two had a son,
Seven Sirius. Dre also began painting professionally while Big Boi began
a more dangerous venture - a pitbull breeding farm. (Celebrity clients
now include Usher, Jermaine Dupri and WBA Heavyweight Champion Roy Jones
Jr).
In 1998, Outkast released their third album, the double-platinum
Aquemini. Debuting at No.2 in the US charts it would become their most
successful album to date. The duo produced much of the album themselves,
sidelining longtime collaborators the Goodie Mob and Organized Noise.
The album featured their hero George Clinton, on the track Synthesizer.
The duo's contrasting lifestyles and beliefs actually seemed to feed the
creativity of the band. "I smoke, he don't smoke," Big Boi
told Source magazine. "I go to strip clubs. He don't go to strip
clubs. He used to, you know what I'm saying? I mean, that's
individualism and that's what Outkast is all about."
In 1999, Outkast faced their first real taste of controversy when they
were sued by US civil rights activist Rosa Parks for their single of the
same name. Parks claimed Outkast were trying to gain success from her
name and she didn't agree with the language used on the song.
In a further nod to George Clinton's Funkadelic and Parliament, the
duo's fourth album, Stankonia, released in 2000, boasted a mindbending
fusion of funk and hip-hop. With the album's hit single, Ms. Jackson,
Outkast soundtracked a satirical look at the state of America. The
worldwide success of the album confirmed Outkast as major
"playas" on the scene.
Their most recent album, 2003's double CD
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below fuelled rumours of a rift within the duo.
The first CD, Speakerboxxx is almost entirely the work of Big Boi while
the second, The Love Below is mostly Andre 3000. The band's management
insist the release doesn't represent a split within the group. Inspite
of the rumours, the album debuted at No.1 on the US charts in October
2003 and recently the band achieved the rare feat of displacing
themselves from the US No.1 spot.
The Big-Boi voiced The Way You Move
replaced Andre's Hey Ya at the top of the US charts in December. The
album reflects their ability to raid black music history, from
psychedelic soul to hip-hop and funk, all set to a verbiose,
tongue-twisting wit. Even if Outkast never make another album they have
changed people's perception of hip-hop for good.
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