In celebration of the rapper’s 45th birthday, Jamie Morris recalls how André 3000 taught him to look past the boundaries of genre and try everything…
Everybody of a certain age knows at least one OutKast song. Their smash hit Hey Ya! – conceived solely by André “3000” Benjamin – is an early 2000s anthem and unleashes a wave of nostalgia for many, including myself. My first exposure to the music video as a kid is burned into my mind, and for a long time, I actually thought OutKast really was a band of eight identical, green-clad men.
About a decade later I discovered their second most iconic record, Ms. Jackson. Until then, I’d been completely dismissive of rap and hip-hop as a whole. This was mainly down to a lack of exposure – I had my own idea of what the genre was from snippets I’d heard of Jay-Z and Eminem growing up, and concluded I was better off sticking with what I knew.
It was my exposure to OutKast – specifically André 3000 – that helped to broaden my horizons and open me up to a world of music that continues to surprise me. André’s signature soulful vocals lured me in, and the sharp snap to Antwan “Big Boi” Patton’s bars sent sparks that burned down the walls of the genre I’d built for myself.
Over the course of Ms. Jackson, Dré showcased his own skill as a rapper. The collaboration between the two produced lyricism that was (and still is) some of the best I’d ever heard, and the contrasting approaches complimented each other so well that I quickly dove into the rest of the album, Stankonia.
The influences 3000 brings to the table in the duo’s fourth LP – ranging from Miles Davis to Jimi Hendrix and beyond – contribute to a vast and enthralling sound. Dré fuses this unique feel with acute social commentary and oddball humour to make for a concept album that, in my view, wouldn’t be inappropriate to call the Sgt. Pepper of rap.
It’s important to emphasise the necessity of Big Boi in bringing the best out of André 3000, and how both halves of the duo formed the engine that fueled my journey into hip-hop. However, on their subsequent double album Speakerboxx/The Love Below, which collects two distinct solo projects, I was grateful to find a helping of pure, distilled 3000.
Aside from being home to Hey Ya!, The Love Below features additional R&B bangers, playful funk, lewd bebop and even a conversation with God. It ends with a true wonder of spoken word, A Life in the Day of Benjamin André (Incomplete), in which André summarises his career in five minutes with tight rhymes and genius wordplay.
Admittedly, despite having listened to each of OutKast’s six studio albums, it tends to just be these two projects I find myself returning to on a regular basis. But André 3000 and Big Boi are the gold standard of rap duos all the same, and I’ll always put them both on a pedestal thanks to their huge impact on my taste in music. So, on his 45th birthday, let’s raise a toast in particular to André Benjamin – hip-hop’s most sagacious and salacious talent.
By Jamie Morris
Feature Image Credit: Fashion Network UK