Outkast

1992-1994: Creation of a group and debut album.

Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton met at the Lenox Square Mall in 1992. Both were sixteen years old, both lived in Atlanta's suburb, , and both studied at . At school, they tried their hand at rap battles ^[2] . Soon they joined the group and met with the team of producers , which produced the group TLC ^[3] . Initially, the duet wanted to name 2 Shades Deep, but the musicians learned that such a name was already taken. Then they decided to call him The Misfits (from English. - "Outcasts"), but this name was taken. Going through synonyms in the dictionary, they settled on the word outcast, replacing one letter with a similar one in sound and got OutKast ^[4] . Around the same time, OutKast, Organized Noize, and their school friends formed the basis for the ^[5] .

In 1992, thanks in large part to LA Reid's producer, the band was signed to ^{[6] [7],} founded by him and Babeface . In November 1993, the group released on it their first single, “Player's Ball”. On the eve of Christmas, this composition was also released as part of the compilation A LaFace Family Christmas ^{[8] [9]} . The single gained popularity by rising to first place on the Hot Rap Tracks chart , and helped raise public interest in the upcoming full-length album ^[3] . Having received the status of gold even before the release of the album, “Player's Ball” became a significant release for southern hip-hop , adding Atlanta as an alternative to the East and West coast ^[10] .

The band's debut album, , was released on April 26, 1994 . Recorded jointly with the Dungeon Family and produced entirely by Organized Noize ^[11] , the album borrowed the East Coast hip-hop lyric component and the West West musical ^[12] . The album received positive reviews from critics and became commercially successful, having received platinum status ^[3] . In 1995, Outkast won the Best Newcomer Award at The Source Awards . However, upon entering the scene, they were booed by representatives of both the East and West coast ^{[13] [14]} . Despite this, the André 3000 stated from the scene that “The South still has something to say ” ^{[15] [16]} .

1996-1999: Success of ATLiens and Aquemini

Still upset, the musicians continued to work ^[17] . This period marked a change in image and worldview: after a trip to Jamaica, the musicians abandoned their usual braids, and the André 3000 became a vegetarian and stopped smoking marijuana ^[18] . The musical style of the group has also changed ^[19] . After the success of their debut album, OutKast gained more creative freedom from the label ^[18] . As a result, they got an album in the style of “relaxing space funk ” ^[20] , written under the influence of the work of George Clinton ^[19] . was released on August 27, 1996 . In the first two weeks, 350,000 copies of the album ^[21] were sold, thanks to which it was able to rise to the second line of the Billboard 200 ^[22] , and later became twice platinum ^[23] . The single “Elevators (Me & You)” from the album lasted twenty weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart , where it was able to rise to the twelfth line ^[24] .

On their third album, , the musicians developed the style used on ATLiens ^[25] . The image of the group after ATLiens also changed: after the beginning of a relationship with singer Erica Badu, André 3000 began to dress in bright outfits and wear a wig ^[26] . Aquemini was released on September 29, 1998 . It was successful, like the previous album, also rising to second place on the Billboard 200 ^[27] and also becoming twice platinum ^[28] . The album received positive reviews from critics, including the “5 Microphones” rating and the title “Classics” from The Source Magazine ^[29] , becoming the first album in the southern hip-hop genre to receive the highest rating in this publication ^[30] . Aquemini also made it to various lists of the best albums, among which the 500th place in the list of the 500 greatest albums of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine ^[31] .

2000-2001: Stankonia

With the release of their fourth album, , the band moved towards a more commercial, mainstream sound ^[32] . At the same time, the album demonstrated that over the years, musicians have retained their experimental approach to music and the originality of the look ^{[33] [34]} . Among the musicians who influenced the sound of the album, André 3000 names Jimi Hendrix , Chuck Berry , Little Richard , Prince and the early work of Funkadelic ^[35] . Stankonia was released on October 31, 2000 . The album took second place on the Billboard 200 ^[36] and became four times platinum in the United States ^[32] . Three singles were released from the album. The first, “BOB (Bombs Over Baghdad),” was able to climb the 69th line of the Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Songs chart ^[36] . However, the radio stations, seeing in the title a reference to the Gulf War , refused to add this composition to the rotation ^[37] . Second single, "Ms. Jackson, "recorded after breaking up with Erica Badu ^[37] , was more successful. He took the first line of Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Songs ^[36] , and later hit the Hot 100, where he also took first position and lasted fifteen weeks ^[24] . The last single was the song “So Fresh, So Clean”. The single was able to rise to the 30th line of Hot 100 ^[24] and to the 10th line of Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Songs ^[36] . Stankonia received rave reviews from critics. ^[32] A number of publications, including Rolling Stone ^[38] , Pitchfork ^[39] and Entertainment Weekly ^[40] , have added it to their lists of the best albums of the 2000s. In 2001, Outkast received two Grammy Awards: Best Rap Performance by a Duet or Band for Ms. Jackson "and the best rap album of the year for Stankonia ^[37] .

December 4, 2001 the group released a collection of the best hits . In addition to the already known compositions, this album contained three new compositions. One of them, “The Whole World”, performed with rapper Killer Mike , who was little known at that time, received the Grammy Award in 2002 for the best rap performance by a duet or group ^[37] .

2002-2004: Speakerboxxx / The Love Below

September 23, 2003 Outkast released the double album Speakerboxxx / The Love Below . It was divided into two parts: Speakerboxxx Big Boy, which is a hip-hop with funk elements, and The Love Below Andre, on which he went to the side of more melodic jazz, funk and R&B ^{[3] [41]} . The André 3000 worked on its half for two years, while Big Boi recorded his part for the month ^[42] . Speakerboxxx / The Love Below has become commercially successful. The album spent 41 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart ^[43] , making its debut in first position and spending seven weeks in total, returning to it four times ^[44] . In December 2004, the album was certified as diamond, and later, in 2006 - as 11 times platinum ^[45] . Speakerboxxx / The Love Below became the best-selling album in the history of hip-hop and one of the three hip-hop albums that received the status of a diamond ^[46] .

Four singles were released from the album ^[47] . The most successful of them were the first ones released by Hey Ya! And The Way You Move. “Hey Ya!” Hit the charts in 28 countries ^[42] and stayed on the first line of the Billboard Hot 100 chart for nine weeks ^[24] . For the tenth week, the single “The Way You Move” won first place on the charts of 17 countries. Before Outkast, a similar situation, when one single of a group changed another single of the same group on the chart, happened only in 1964 with the group The Beatles ^[48] .

Speakerboxxx / The Love Below received positive reviews from critics ^[49] . The album was also nominated for six Grammy Awards, three of which he won, including the best rap album and the best album of the year ^[50] . Speakerboxxx / The Love Below was the second hip-hop album (after The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill ) to win a Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year ^[51] .

The success of the musicians also allowed them to pursue acting careers: in 2004 Big Boi starred in the comedy sketch at the and in 2006 in the film , the André 3000 starred in the films “ Hollywood Cops ” in 2003 and “ Blood for blood ”in 2005, as well as in Guy Ritchie's Revolver. ^[48]

2005-2006: Idlewild

In 2006, the movie was released, in which members of the group played the main roles. The original release of the film was planned for 2005, but later rescheduled ^[52] . The film was coolly received by critics ^[53] and became a box office failure ^[54] . The release , dated August 22, 2006, was timed to coincide with the release film. Big Boi emphasized that “this is an Outkast album, not a soundtrack” ^[52] . The album received mostly positive reviews from critics ^[55] and got on the second line of the Billboard 200 chart ^[43] , but could not affect the success of the film. For the first time, Outkast's album was less successful than the previous one ^[54] . Despite this, the album received platinum status in the USA ^[56] and gold status in Canada ^[57] .

2007–2013: Break and Solo Careers

In 2007, members of the group reported that they take a break in creativity for an indefinite period ^[58] . At this time, they decided to do solo work. In the same year, Big Boi announced that he was preparing to release his debut solo album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty . In 2008, a promotion was released from this album, the composition “Royal Flush”, recorded with André 3000 and Raekwon ^[59] . However, the album itself was not released until 2010 , after numerous transfers and problems with the label ^{[60] [61]} .

The André 3000 returned to rap in 2007, taking part in recording several compositions by other musicians, including ^[62] and “Throw Some D's” rapper ^] nominated for the Grammy Award , a remix of “What a Job” by rapper ^63] , as well as a remix of “30 Something” by rapper Jay-Z ^[64] . In 2012, André starred in the biography film Jimi Hendricks , released in 2014. In it, he played the main role - guitarist Jimi Hendrix ^[65] .

2014 — Present: Reunion

At the end of 2013, Outkast was announced to reunite at the 2014 Coachella Festival. ^[66] Later this information was officially confirmed ^[67] and it was announced that more than 40 performances of the group around the world were announced ^[68] . Soon there were rumors that the group was working on a new album, but Big Boi denied this information ^[69] . In September 2014, the band held a number of concerts in Atlanta, called #ATLast ^{[~ 1]} . It was originally planned to hold two concerts, but after the tickets were sold out within a few minutes, the group decided to add a third concert ^[70] . In addition to the group itself, a large number of musicians took part in the performances, including singers Janelle Monet and Eric Badou , as well as rappers 2 Chainz , Kid Cudi , Childish Gambino and Killer Mike ^{[71] [72] [73]} .

Studio Albums

• Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994)
• ATLiens (1996)
• Aquemini (1998)
• Stankonia (2000)
• Speakerboxxx / The Love Below (2003)
• Idlewild (2006)

Collections

• Big Boi and Dre Present ... Outkast (2001)

Comments

Sources

• Mickey Hess. Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture. — Greenwood Publishing Group , 2007. — ISBN 0-313-33902-3 .
• Ben Westhoff. Dirty South. — Chicago Review Press , 2011. — ISBN 978-1-56976-606-4 .
• Roni Sarig. Third Coast: OutKast, Timbaland, and how Hip-hop Became a Southern Thing. — Da Capo Press , 2007. — ISBN 978-0-306-81430-3 .
• Oliver Wang. Classic Material: The Hip-hop Album Guide. — ECW Press , 2003. — ISBN 9781550225617 .

• outkast.com — официальный сайт группы Outkast