Hey Y'all... OutKast are a pretty little American Hip Hop duo made up of Andre 300 and Antwan 'big boi' Patton; but where have the disappeared to lately?
OldSkool OutKast
The pair of them have become one of the most successful hip-hop groups of all time, having received six Grammy Awards and selling over 25 million copies of their eight albums.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is one of only three hip-hop albums to be certified Diamond in the U.S. for shipping over 10 million units. Along with Outkast's commercial success, it has maintained an experimental approach in their music and is widely praised for its originality and artistic content.
Making The Band
The duo met while attending Tri-Cities High School, and they initially wanted to be called 2 Shades Deep or The Misfits, but because those names were already taken they later decided to use OutKast based on finding out that outcast was a synonym for "misfit" in a dictionary.
OutKast signed to LaFace Records in 1992, becoming the label's first hip hop act and making their first appearance on the remix of TLC's "What About Your Friends". In 1993, they released their first single, "Player's Ball". The song's funky style, much of it accomplished with live instrumentation, was a hit with audiences. "Player's Ball" hit number-one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Albums
Their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, was issued on April 26th, 1994 and is credited with laying the foundation for southern hip hop and is considered a classic album by many.
Their second album was the bizarrely named ATLiens, and was released on August 27th, 1996 and it gave the band the chance to be more self-conscious and in turn, gained them more recognition amongst East Coast hip hop fans in the East and West coasts.
OutKast's third album Aquemini was released on September 29th, 1998 and also reached the number-two position on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States; its title was a combination of the zodiac signs of Big Boi (an Aquarius) and André (a Gemini). The album was widely praised as possibly the group's best material to date.
The pair's fourth album, Stankonia was released in October 2000 to excellent reviews, and it debuted at number-two on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., and would eventually be certified quadruple-platinum.
The second single, Ms. Jackson, combined a pop hook with lyrics about divorce and relationship breakups, particularly André's breakup with singer Erykah Badu. The single became their first hit, and landed the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100... from that moment onm, OutKast were on the up.
Rise To The Top
In September 2003, Outkast released a double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The idea of the album is that each member of the duo recorded his own album, and then they packaged them together as a pair and released them as one album under the OutKast name.
The album became Outkast's biggest commercial success yet, having debuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart at number-one and stayed there for several weeks. The album eventually sold over five million copies, and, as double-album sales count double for Recording Industry Association of America certification, the album was certified diamond for 10 million units shipped in December 2004.
The first two singles from the album(s), were Big Boi's The Way You Move and André 3000's Hey Ya!. Despite getting to number one, Outkast's next official single was not released until the summer of 2004 and came in the form of Roses; a track featuring both members from The Love Below.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won the Grammy Award for the 2004 Album of the Year, becoming only the second rap album to ever receive the honour.
Where Are They Now?
In 2007, Andre 3000 confirmed a new Outkast album would be released, but said that he and Big Boi were intending to release a solo album first, stating the group album would still possibly two years away - well that's this year now isn't it?!
What’s more, on Nov 14, 2008, the Guardian reported that OutKast will release their follow-up some time this year. But until then, we know that Big Boi has an album out in the although it isn’t scheduled in the UK yet and Andre has been working on his clothing line.
Let the party times begin once again Y'All.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison