OutKast

One of the most innovative and successful groups in hip-hop, OutKast have achieved worldwide commercial success while maintaining artistic credibility. Having sold more than 20 million records over the last 14 years, both members have also now branched out into film acting.

Comprising André "André 3000" Benjamin and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, OutKast’s first success was with their debut single, 1993’s “Players Ball”. It reached the Top 40 on the pop charts and No.1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart, and was then featured on the duo’s classic debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik in 1994. Second album ATLiens followed in 1996, receiving more enthusiastic reviews in the hip-hop media, but still without mainstream success. Aquemini improved on that again – their third album in succession to receive widespread critical acclaim, it hit No.2 on the album charts and confirmed OutKast as one of hip-hop’s brightest lights. The lead single “Rosa Parks” was an instant classic, but it was also the subject of a legal action from Rosa Parks herself, for misappropriation of her name. It took until 2005 for this action to be settled out of court.

Fourth album Stankonia sent OutKast into the stratosphere – or, more accurately, into the pop singles charts around the world. Released in 2000, it again received widespread acclaim from the press for its incredible diversity – borrowing elements of rock, metal, samba and jungle music to augment their now-familiar Southern P-funk sound. In early 2001, the single “Ms Jackson” reached No.1 in the US and German pop charts, and No.2 in the UK and Australia. Follow-up single “So Fresh, So Clean” was also a modest success worldwide.

OutKast’s biggest commercial success was still to come. In 2003 they released two solo albums packaged together under the OutKast name: Speakerboxx/ The Love Below. The former was Big Boi’s project and was typically progressive hip-hop with occasional references to gangsta themes. The latter was the work of André 3000 and barely sounded like hip-hop at all – it’s sexy, soul-flavoured pop was more reminiscent of Prince. Again, the double album was released to uniformly excellent reviews, with much debate over which half of the album was better, and how each compared to Aquemini and Stankonia. It also went on to sell more than five million copies, buoyed by the worldwide chart success of lead single “Hey Ya!”, from André 3000’s The Love Below CD, which sold over three million copies in the US alone, and stayed in the UK pop charts for more than five months. Follow-up “The Way You Move” also went to No.1 in the US. The nature of the double album, with little collaboration evident between the two solo projects, led to persistent rumours of an impending OutKast split. These rumours have been consistently denied by the duo themselves.

Following this success, OutKast began working on their own film, entitled Idlewild, and an accompanying soundtrack. The musical film was released worldwide in 2006 to mixed reviews, and the Idlewild album was also considered a slight disappointment compared to their previous records.