What’s Up With OutKast?

In 2014, in front of an electrified crowd, OutKast performed their last concert, #ATLast. It’s fitting that the Hip-Hop duo’s concert was held in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, the city that helped mold them into one of the most significant rap groups in music history, with Grammy award wins (even a coveted Album of the Year victory) and vast commercial success with epic tracks like “Hey Ya” and “The Way You Move.” As the sun descended, and Big Boi and Andre 3000 glided through their catalog that spanned a decade, it was obvious fans were witnessing more than a moment – they were witnessing history. 

southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and the Beginning of OutKast

Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton met and formed the Hip-Hop group in high school. In 1994, OutKast dropped their debut album, southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, an album that served as a springboard for Benjamin (soon to be 3000) and Patton (aka Big Boi), but that was also an introduction to the enormous talent of the whole Dungeon Family collective. 

Organized Noize (Rico Wade, Sleepy Brown, Ray Murray) produced the entire first album, which was put together in Rico’s grandma’s basement in East Point, Georgia, now famously known as The Dungeon. The entire DF crew was there; including key players Khujo, Big Gipp, Cee-Lo, and T-Mo of Goodie MOB, solo rappers Cool Breeze and Witchdoctor, as well as famed singer-songwriter Joi.

The end result was a hodgepodge of sound - funky, raw, earthy, and melodic.  OutKast’s debut, southernplayalistic, put OutKast and the entire Dungeon Family crew on the map, propelled by songs including the title track, “Crumblin’ Erb,” “Ain't No Thang,” “Player’s Ball,” and “Git Up, Git Out.”

Avoiding the Sophomore Slump: Morphing Into ATLiens

In August 1996, OutKast dropped their highly anticipated second album, ATLiens. It was obvious this wasn’t just an extension of their debut album’s sound. The changes in Dre and Big were spurred by their individual life circumstances: Andre gave up alcohol, became vegan, and earned his GED while Big Boi had just become a father, and was dealing with the tragic loss of his aunt Renee, who'd helped raise him. 

Ultimately, both Big and Dre were exploring their art and honing in on their individual perspectives, which was apparent in their music. If southernplayalistic...was Organized Noize and the Dungeon Family’s coming-out party, ATLiens was truly OutKast’s. 

OutKast had learned from Ray, Sleepy, and Rico, and began making beats themselves. They ended up producing five of the album’s most defining songs— “Wheelz of Steel,” “Elevators (Me & You),”Ova da Wudz,” “E.T. (Extraterrestrial)” and “ATLiens.” 

It was the first time listeners got a real glimpse into the direction the duo would subsequently take on their third, effort and one of the most revered albums of the past two decades, 1998’s Aquemini. The album featured megahits like “Rosa Parks” and quintessential OutKast songs like “Skew It On The Bar-B” featuring Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon, “Liberation” featuring Cee-Lo and Erykah Badu, and “SpottieOttieDopaliscious.” 

By the early 2000s, Big Boi, Andre and longtime collaborator Mr. DJ would form the production team of Earthtone III, eventually handling much of the production on later OutKast albums like Stankonia. Released in 2000, the album featured hits like “Ms. Jackson” and “So Fresh, So Clean.” 

A Tale of Two Artists: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and Beyond 

In 2003, OutKast dropped a double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.  Speakerboxx was Big Boi's high-energy, two-step friendly offering, while The Love Below was Andre 3000's opportunity to showcase his expansive musicality. Of course, the album sparked rumors: Did OutKast break up? However, Andre clarified in a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone, that he and Big were good – but his album was initially supposed to be the launch of his solo career. 

“The Love Below was originally supposed to be a solo album,” Andre explained to Rolling Stone in 2004. “At the last minute, management and the record company said it wasn’t a good time to do that, so Big Boi did Speakerboxxx. But I was taking so long to finish The Love Below that he wanted to release that as a solo album. A lot of people don’t know the album almost wasn’t made…”

Good thing it was. The album not only further established OutKast as one of the most important groups of all time, but went diamond, selling more than 10 million copies. 

Two years later, OutKast dropped what would be their final project together, Idlewild. The project wasn’t officially an album, but the soundtrack to their film of the same name. Either way, it would be last full-length effort before a long (and still ongoing) hiatus.

The End of an Era: What Happened Next 

While the two remain good friends, even appearing together on songs like 2008’s Grammy-nominated “Royal Flush,” OutKast has yet to release another project together. Big Boi went on to release several Billboard-charting solo albums including Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, and 2017’s Boomiverse. Meanwhile, Andre made numerous guest appearances on albums with Chris Brown, Frank Ocean, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, J. Cole, Beyoncé, Anderson.Paak, John Legend, and more while also expanding his TV and film credits with series like American Crime. 

So, when it was announced in 2014 that they were playing at Coachella and doing a short festival run, fans were understandably giddy. And on that fateful night in Atlanta in the fall of 2014, OutKast fans were able to witness history. Although Andre 3000 and Big Boi performed during a Dungeon Family reunion at One Musicfest in 2016, a new record from OutKast doesn’t seem likely, though if anybody can defy expectations and surprise music lovers, it’s definitely Andre 3000 and Big Boi.