Straight from the ATL, Outkast have continued to raise the creative bar in Hip Hop since the release of their first album “Southernplayalisticadillacmusik” 1994. They followed with “ATLiens”, “Aquemeni” and the now modern rap classic “Stankonia”. They are now promoting their new double album “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below”. The two CDs are basically stand alone albums… Speakerboxxx is Big Boi’s straight-forward Hip Hop contribution and The Love Below is Andre 3000’s eclectic CD.
The Playa and The Poet…Big Boi aka Antwan Patton and Andre 3000 aka Andre Benjamin, respectively form OutKast. An original, streetsmart duo, who’s appeal has crossed international borders and social standings, even within the beef-torn, highly competitive world of hip-hop. Dre and Big Boi’s success as artists not only lies in their ability to develop new sounds with each album, but in accepting their different personalities and building on their common interests…a shared love of Parliament/Funkadelic, James Brown, and Jimi Hendrix.
I got a chance to catch up with the funky duo during a listening party in promotion for their new album.
Your friendship goes back to Atlanta in the early ’90s, where you both attended Tri-Cities High School in East Point. How’d you hook up?
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Dre: We were both just a tad bit different…both were into rapping…we noticed each other…we both had mad flow…so it just seemed natural to hook up.
Big Boi: We were cool like that you know. But, we didn’t really hook up until about the 10th grade…
Dre: “You was in the 10th grade…(laughs as he nudges Big Boi with his elbow) I had dropped out of school by then.
Big Boi: We started a group called ‘2 Shades Deep’…we was working at odd jobs and partying…you know the street games that all young hustlers play…I remember running up on Dre and he was sitting in this tricked out caddy, packing a nine and smoking weed…straight southern gangsta-mack! H e made me look like an amatuer back in the day.
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Dre: I was looking for niggas to run up on…I had some ladies and thangs poppin off back in the day…you know had to get that green.
Big Boi: I was considering gettin’ into the street games real serious…but, we managed to get signed to LaFace and released ‘Player’s Ball’ back in ’93.
