OutKast's
blend of gritty Southern soul, fluid raps, and the rolling
G-funk of their Organized Noize production crew epitomized
the Atlanta wing of hip-hop's rising force, the Dirty South,
during the late '90s. Along with Goodie Mob, OutKast took
Southern hip-hop in bold, innovative new directions: less
reliance on aggression, more positivity and melody, thicker
arrangements, and intricate lyrics. After Dre and Big Boi
hit number one on the rap charts with their first single,
"Player's Ball," the duo embarked on a run of platinum
albums spiked with several hit singles, enjoying numerous
critical accolades in addition to their commercial success.
Andre Benjamin
(Dre) and Antwan Patton (Big Boi) attended the same high school
in the Atlanta borough of East Point, and several lyrical
battles made each gain respect for the other's skills. They
formed OutKast, and were pursued by Organized Noize Productions,
hitmakers for TLC and Xscape. Signed to the local LaFace label
just after high school, OutKast recorded and released Player's
Ball, then watched the single rise to number one on the rap
charts. It slipped from the top spot only after six weeks,
was certified gold, and created a buzz for a full-length release.
That album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, hit the Top 20
in 1994 and was certified platinum by the end of the year.
Dre and Big Boi also won Best New Rap Group of the Year at
the 1995 Source Awards. OutKast returned with a new album
in 1996, releasing ATLiens that August; it hit number two
and went platinum with help from the gold-selling single "Elevators
(Me & You)" (number 12 pop, number one rap), as well
as the Top 40 title track. Aquemini followed in 1998, also
hitting number two and going double-platinum. There were no
huge hit singles this time around, but critics lavishly praised
the album's unified, progressive vision, hailing it as a great
leap forward and including it on many year-end polls. Unfortunately,
in a somewhat bizarre turn of events, OutKast was sued over
the album's lead single "Rosa Parks" by none other
than the civil rights pioneer herself, who claimed that the
group had unlawfully appropriated her name to promote their
music, also objecting to some of the song's language. The
initial court decision dismissed the suit in late 1999. Dre
modified his name to Andre 3000 before the group issued its
hotly anticipated fourth album, Stankonia, in late 2000. Riding
the momentum of uniformly excellent reviews and the stellar
singles "B.O.B." and "Ms. Jackson," Stankonia
debuted at number two and went triple platinum in just a few
months; meanwhile, "Ms. Jackson" became their first
number one pop single the following February. — John Bush
