Outkast facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Outkast
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Outkast performing in 2001. Left to right: André 3000 and Big Boi.
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| Also known as | Two Shades Deep |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
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Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop group. It was formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992. The group had two members: Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin). They are known as one of the most important and successful hip-hop groups ever.
Outkast became very popular from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. They helped make Southern hip-hop famous. Their music had clever lyrics, catchy tunes, and positive messages. They also mixed in different music styles like funk, psychedelic sounds, jazz, and techno.
Big Boi and André 3000 started Outkast when they were in high school. Their first album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, came out in 1994. The song "Player's Ball" from this album became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart. They continued to develop their unique sound with their next albums, ATLiens (1996) and Aquemini (1998). Both albums were highly praised by music critics.
Outkast became even more famous with their fourth album, Stankonia (2000). This album included popular songs like "B.O.B." and "Ms. Jackson". "Ms. Jackson" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 2002.
Their album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) was a huge success. It was their only album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart. This album sold over 10 million copies, earning a special "Diamond" award. It featured two more number-one hits: "The Way You Move" (sung by Big Boi) and "Hey Ya!" (sung by André 3000). Speakerboxxx/The Love Below also won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2004.
Outkast also starred in a musical film called Idlewild in 2006. They recorded the film's music, which was released as their final album. The group took a break the next year, and both members started their own solo music careers. In 2014, Outkast reunited for a short time to celebrate 20 years since their first album. They performed at over 40 music festivals around the world.
Outkast is one of hip-hop's most successful groups. They have sold over 20 million records and won six Grammy Awards. In 2015, Rolling Stone magazine named them one of the "20 Greatest Duos of All Time." Their albums are often listed among the best in hip-hop history. Outkast was chosen to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.
Contents
History of Outkast
Early Years and First Album (1992–1995)
Big Boi (Patton) and André 3000 (Benjamin) first met in 1992 at the Lenox Square shopping mall in Atlanta. They were both 16 years old. They went to Tri-Cities High School in Atlanta. In school, they would often have rap battles in the cafeteria.
Big Boi and André soon teamed up. They were noticed by Organized Noize, a group of local music producers. Organized Noize later created hit songs for the R&B group TLC. The duo first called themselves "2 Shades Deep." But another local group already had a similar name. So, they chose "Outkast" because they had a unique style compared to their classmates. Outkast, along with Organized Noize and their school friends Goodie Mob, formed a music collective called the Dungeon Family.
Outkast signed with LaFace Records in 1992, becoming the first hip-hop group on that label. They first appeared on a remix of TLC's song "What About Your Friends". In late 1993, they released their first song, "Player's Ball". This song had a cool, funky sound with live instruments. It quickly became a hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart.
Their first album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, came out on April 26, 1994. Many people say this album helped create the sound of Southern hip-hop. All the songs on this album were produced by Organized Noize. Other members of the Dungeon Family also appeared on the album. Later songs from the album included the title track and "Git Up Git Out." This song was about social issues and featured Goodie Mob. In their early music, Big Boi and André sang about different parts of life in the South. Outkast won the Best New Rap Group award in 1995.
Growing Success with ATLiens and Aquemini (1995–1999)
After their first album sold very well, LaFace Records gave Outkast more freedom to create their next album. They recorded it from 1995 to 1996. The duo decided to change their look and sound. They stopped wearing cornrow hairstyles and adopted a more natural style. André 3000 also changed his lifestyle, becoming vegetarian and adopting a more unique fashion sense.
Their second album, ATLiens, was released on August 27, 1996. This album had a more relaxed, space-like sound, influenced by dub and reggae. On ATLiens, Big Boi and André 3000 created more futuristic characters for themselves. They also started producing many of their own songs for the first time. Critics praised their growing musical style. The album reached number two on the U.S. R&B/Hip Hop chart. It sold almost 350,000 copies in its first two weeks. The song "Elevators (Me & You)" was a hit, staying on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 20 weeks. ATLiens helped Outkast become key leaders of the Southern hip-hop movement.
For this album, Outkast teamed up with producer David "Mr. DJ" Sheats to form Earthtone III. This allowed them to produce more of their own music. The song "ATLiens" showed André's new, more focused lifestyle.
Outkast's third album, Aquemini, came out on September 29, 1998. This album also sold very well and reached number two on the Billboard 200 chart. The title Aquemini combines the zodiac signs of Big Boi (an Aquarius) and André (a Gemini). They produced even more of their own music and explored different topics. The album included sounds inspired by soul, trip hop, and electro music. It featured collaborations with famous artists like Raekwon, Slick Rick, and George Clinton. The album also had the song "Rosa Parks".
Stankonia and Big Boi and Dre Present... Outkast (2000–2001)
Outkast's fourth album, Stankonia, was released in October 2000. It received great reviews. The album showed a change in their music style, becoming more popular and mainstream. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart and eventually sold over 4 million copies.
The first song from Stankonia was "B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)", which was a fast-paced song. The second song, "Ms. Jackson", had a catchy pop chorus. Its lyrics were about family changes and relationship breakups, especially André's breakup with singer Erykah Badu. Around this time, André changed his stage name to "André 3000" to avoid confusion with Dr. Dre.
"Ms. Jackson" became their first number-one pop hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also reached number two in the UK. The last song from the album was "So Fresh, So Clean." All three songs had popular music videos. Outkast won two Grammy Awards in 2001: one for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Ms. Jackson" and another for Stankonia as Best Rap Album.
In December 2001, Outkast released a compilation album called Big Boi and Dre Present... Outkast. It included three new songs. One of these new songs was "The Whole World", which won a 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2002–2004)
Outkast spent two years creating their fifth album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which was released on September 23, 2003. This was a double album, meaning it had two separate parts. One part, Speakerboxxx, was mostly Big Boi's solo work. The other part, The Love Below, was mostly André 3000's solo work. Both members did appear on a few songs on each other's discs. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx was a lively mix of funk and Southern hip-hop. André 3000's The Love Below explored sounds from funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and R&B.
The album was Outkast's biggest success. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart and stayed there for many weeks. It sold over 5 million copies. Because it was a double album, it was counted as 10 million units for sales awards, earning a "Diamond" certification.
The first two songs released from the album were Big Boi's "The Way You Move" and André 3000's "Hey Ya!" "Hey Ya!" became a massive hit, and the music video showed André playing all the members of a fictional band. These two songs were number one on the Hot 100 singles chart for ten weeks. "Hey Ya!" was number one for nine weeks, and "The Way You Move" took over for one week. These songs were important because they were some of the first hip-hop songs to be played widely on radio stations that usually played adult contemporary music.
Outkast's next song was "Roses" in the summer of 2004. This song featured both members. The music video for "Roses" was like a musical, showing two groups representing Speakerboxxx and The Love Below.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below won the 2004 Grammy for Album of the Year. Outkast performed at the Grammy Awards, with Big Boi singing "The Way You Move" and André 3000 performing "Hey Ya!"
Idlewild and Break (2005–2013)
The members also started working on a movie together called Idlewild. It was a musical film set in the 1930s, with a blues-influenced hip-hop soundtrack. The movie was released on August 25, 2006. The Idlewild soundtrack was released three days earlier. Big Boi said it was an Outkast album, not just a movie soundtrack.
The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart. It also reached number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album sold over one million copies in the United States.
The first song from the album was "Mighty 'O'", featuring both Big Boi and André 3000. Like their previous album, two songs were released at the same time. "Morris Brown" featured Big Boi and was inspired by marching bands. The song's title refers to Atlanta's Morris Brown College. The third song, André 3000's "Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me)", was a blues-style song. The fourth song, "Hollywood Divorce", featured Lil' Wayne and Snoop Dogg.
After the Idlewild album in 2007, Big Boi announced plans for a solo album. His album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, was released in 2010. André 3000 also started appearing on other artists' songs and remixes. In 2012, André 3000 played Jimi Hendrix in a movie called Jimi: All Is by My Side.
Reunion and Later Years (2014–Present)
In late 2013, news spread that Outkast would reunite for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2014. This was confirmed in January 2014. It was announced that the duo would perform at over 40 festivals worldwide to celebrate their 20th anniversary. They also returned to Atlanta for special homecoming shows.
Outkast performed their last show at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans on October 31, 2014. After this, the group went back to their break.
In October 2020, it was announced that Stankonia would be re-released to celebrate its 20th anniversary. This new version included songs that had not been released before. Outkast was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.
Musical Style and Influences
Outkast's music changed over time. Rolling Stone magazine said their music was unique and inspired by the psychedelic funk of George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic group. Their first album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, used sounds like Southern guitar, smooth soul melodies, and 1970s funk. It also had hip-hop beats.
ATLiens and Aquemini had a space-like sound with echo effects. With Stankonia, Outkast was one of the first hip-hop groups to openly show influence from rave culture. Stankonia and Speakerboxxx/The Love Below used sounds from psychedelia, gospel, funk, techno, soul, electro, and rock music. In the late 1990s, many rappers used slow beats. But Outkast used faster, more energetic tempos in some songs on Stankonia.
A key part of Outkast's songwriting was the different personalities of Big Boi and André 3000. Big Boi often sang about typical hip-hop topics like his childhood, while André 3000 explored more unusual themes. Outkast kept their unique Southern style, like the harmonica in "Rosa Parks" and their Atlanta slang. They used different ways of singing, from relaxed to fast and distorted. Outkast also often sang about women in the South in a respectful way.
Collaborations and Other Work
While recording Stankonia, Outkast and Mr. DJ started producing music for other artists. These artists included Slimm Cutta Calhoun and Killer Mike, who first appeared on Stankonia.
In 2002, Outkast was part of the only Dungeon Family group album, Even in Darkness. They also contributed the song "Land of a Million Drums" to the Scooby-Doo movie soundtrack.
Big Boi has also worked on joint albums with other rappers like Killer Mike and Pill.
André 3000 has been featured on many songs by other artists. In 2010, he was on Ciara's remix for "Ride". He also appeared on Beyoncé's song "Party" in 2011 and Lil Wayne's album Tha Carter IV. In 2012, André was featured on the Gorillaz song "DoYaThing". He also appeared on Frank Ocean's albums Channel Orange and Blonde.
Big Boi also worked with the band Phantogram. Their album together, called Big Grams, was released in 2015.
Film Projects
André 3000 appeared in several movies and TV shows. These include The Shield, Be Cool, Revolver, Semi Pro, and Four Brothers. He also played Percival in the movie Idlewild. He voiced a crow in the 2006 movie Charlotte's Web. From 2006, he voiced "Sunny Bridges" in Class of 3000, an animated series he produced for Cartoon Network. He also starred in the 2008 film Battle in Seattle.
Big Boi appeared on Nick Cannon's Wild 'n Out and Chappelle's Show. He was in T.I.'s film ATL and Outkast's film Idlewild. He also appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
Lawsuit Regarding "Rosa Parks" Song
In April 1999, Rosa Parks filed a lawsuit against Outkast and LaFace Records. She claimed that the song "Rosa Parks" used her name without permission. The lawsuit also mentioned that the song contained inappropriate language.
The song's lyrics do not directly tell Rosa Parks' story. However, the chorus says: "Ah ha, hush that fuss / Everybody move to the back of the bus." Outkast said the song was meant to honor Parks. They explained that the chorus was a way to say that Outkast was bringing a new style to hip-hop, and others should make way for it.
A court first ruled in favor of Outkast. They said the song was an "expressive work" and protected by the First Amendment (freedom of speech). Rosa Parks' lawyers appealed this decision. In 2003, the Supreme Court decided not to hear the appeal.
In April 2005, the case was settled. Outkast and the record companies did not admit to any wrongdoing. However, they agreed to create and support educational programs about Rosa Parks.
Discography
Studio albums
- Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994)
- ATLiens (1996)
- Aquemini (1998)
- Stankonia (2000)
- Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003)
- Idlewild (2006)
Awards and nominations
See also
In Spanish: Outkast para niños
