OutKast

OutKast are one of the greatest and most influential hip-hop acts of all time, the Atlanta duo that put the American South on the rap map and then kept pushing the genre into new territory. Formed in 1992 by André 3000 and Big Boi, the pair built a catalogue that ran from gritty Southern rap to funk, soul, psychedelia and pop, all anchored by intricate lyricism and a knack for melody. They won six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, and in 2025 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Two voices from Atlanta

André Benjamin, who took the name André 3000, and Antwan Patton, known as Big Boi, met as teenagers at a performing arts high school in the East Point area of Atlanta. They signed with LaFace Records and worked closely with the production team Organized Noize and the wider Dungeon Family collective. A central idea ran through their music from the start: the contrast between the two members, with Big Boi cast as the smooth, streetwise player and André 3000 as the eccentric, flamboyant poet. Their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, arrived in 1994 and topped the rap charts with “Player’s Ball,” announcing a new Southern voice in a genre then dominated by the coasts.

ATLiens, Aquemini and a rising sound

The duo grew more adventurous with each record. ATLiens in 1996 leaned into spacey, atmospheric production and the hit “Elevators (Me & You).” Aquemini in 1998, its title a blend of their astrological signs, brought in live instruments and earned acclaim for songs like “Rosa Parks” and “Da Art of Storytellin’.” André began trading baggy jeans for ever more outlandish outfits, and the group’s theatrical videos and style became hallmarks. By the late 1990s, critics who had once dismissed Southern rap were treating OutKast as one of the most original acts in music.

Stankonia and the crossover

Their fourth album, Stankonia (2000), was a full crossover. Driven by the frantic “B.O.B. (Bombs over Baghdad)” and the heartfelt “Ms. Jackson,” which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, it won Grammys for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Then came the 2003 double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, essentially a pair of solo records packaged together. Big Boi’s funk-and-rap Speakerboxxx produced “The Way You Move,” while André’s genre-hopping The Love Below delivered the irresistible “Hey Ya!” Both reached number one, the album sold in the millions, and it won three Grammys including the top prize, Album of the Year.

Legacy and reunion

OutKast released the soundtrack and film Idlewild in 2006, then went on hiatus the following year. Big Boi pursued a steady solo career, while André 3000 became known for scene-stealing guest verses and, much later, an instrumental flute album, New Blue Sun, that earned its own Album of the Year nomination. The duo reunited in 2014 for a celebrated run of festival shows, and their place in history was sealed in 2025 with their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. No rap album has won the Grammy for Album of the Year since theirs did, a measure of how high they set the bar.

The duality at the heart of the music

The contrast between the two members was never a gimmick; it was the engine of their sound. Big Boi was the technically dazzling rapper rooted in funk and Southern tradition, while André 3000 drifted toward singing, jazz and psychedelia, often blurring the line between rap and pop. On Speakerboxxx/The Love Below that split became literal, with each member steering his own disc, yet the two halves still felt like one restless artistic vision. That push and pull let OutKast cover enormous ground without ever sounding like anyone else.

From the Dungeon to the Hall of Fame

OutKast’s roots ran through the Dungeon Family, the Atlanta collective that grew out of a basement studio belonging to producer Rico Wade’s mother. That grassroots origin shaped a group that valued craft, community and reinvention over trends. By the time they reunited for a run of festival shows in 2014 and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2025, their influence was everywhere in popular music, from the artists who joined to honor them on stage to a whole generation of Southern rappers who followed the path they cleared.

A standard no one has matched

The scale of their achievement is easy to measure in one fact: no rap album has won the Grammy for Album of the Year since Speakerboxxx/The Love Below took the prize in 2004. OutKast managed to be both critical darlings and chart-topping hitmakers, respected by purists and embraced by pop audiences at the same time. True to their name, they were outsiders who refused to follow the rules and gave the world no choice but to embrace them.

Most loved songs

A spread across their catalogue. Each title opens through the in-site player.

From the Dungeon to the top of the charts, OutKast remade Southern hip-hop in their own image. If one of their songs is stuck in your head, type it into the search box above to find it.