Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
As a dude from the South who grew up on ‘90s-era hip-hop, Outkast has been and will always be one of my favorite rap groups. Sometimes, they’re number one on my list; sometimes, they’re number two, but always right there at the top. They’re the only rap group with two songs that shook me to my core so intensely that I can vividly remember exactly where I was the first time I heard them — “Elevators (Me & U)” and “Skew It On The Bar-B.” The horns on “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” are as beautiful today as they were the first time I heard them at Audrey’s now-closed record shop on the campus of Clark Atlanta University in September 1998.
I love Outkast and that love for Outkast is why I give any and every song and project released by both André 3000 and Big Boi spins. I will listen and if I don’t like them, I typically move on, careful not to be too critical. I wrote a whole review of André 3000’s “New Blue Sun” — his first solo album that featured him on flute amidst the ethereal and free-flowing sounds of a band of artists who created more of a feeling than a sound — where I tried to toe the line between honest critique and my belief in 3000’s artistic freedom. It was not an easy endeavor, I assure you. Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder — “New Blue Sun” received three Grammy nominations, including one for Album of the Year against the likes of Billie Eilish, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, among others. Even André was surprised by it.
With that said, as an Outkast fan, there’s always this part of me that wants, or perhaps really would like, another Outkast album where Big Boi and André produce and rap. I know I’m not alone in this, but perhaps that hope is ill-fated and delusional. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, André 3000 implied as much. The interview covered a lot of territory, from 3000’s spiritual journey to his thoughts about his space in rap and trying to get back in a rapping space to his interesting thoughts about being an older rapper. It’s truly worth reading for many reasons. No interview would be complete, though, without touching on the state of Outkast and the likelihood of another album. When asked about his mindset on new Outkast music, 3000 made it pretty clear that fans shouldn’t be waiting on a new album.
“I’ll say maybe 10, 15 years ago, in my mind, I thought an Outkast album would happen. I don’t know the future, but I can say that we’re further away from it than we’ve ever been. I think it’s a chemistry thing. We have to be wanting to do it. It’s hard for me to make a rap, period, you know? And sometimes I’m in the belief of ‘Let things be.’”
If they’re further away now than they’ve ever been, there’s no way we’re getting a new album, ever. I’ve felt they’ve been far apart on music for a while, but further than they’ve ever been? It sounds like, creatively, they might be on separate planets. While it sounds bad, it jives pretty well with 3000’s feelings about rapping (he isn’t in a rap space) and art — and this idea that art represents a time but sometimes that time ends — or at least, that’s what I got from his interview. It’s almost as if he feels like Outkast represents a time in his life and while he’s thankful for it, that time has passed.
I kind of agree with him. While I want another Outkast album, I’m almost not even sure that desire is rooted in anything short of nostalgia for what Outkast gave me as a youth; something that would be impossible to give me now. The art they created was very much of the time they lived in and who they were at that time. The duo just happened to be supremely innovative and creative at transmitting their message. But if half of the group isn’t there at their big ages of 49, I think to be looking forward to an album from them in their mid to late 50s is probably unrealistic. Outkast’s legacy is cemented and their music’s place in the canon of hip-hop is undeniable. The last album Big Boi and André 3000 made together was the soundtrack for “Idlewild” back in 2006, released when they were both 31, which artistically was a lifetime ago. It’s kind of crazy to think of it in terms of their ages and not just the amount of years that have passed. I will say, though, that André 3000’s thoughts on his older rapper’s place in hip-hop seem like fodder for all types of artistic expression, but that’s just me.
Look, if Outkast, as an entity, never releases another piece of music together, it’s OK, They’ve already done more than enough for hip-hop, culture and music. I hope that their relationship as grown men is strong and stable and that their love for one another as creative partners remains intact. Should they get in the studio at any point and release a song here or there that tests the waters, I’ll be right there waiting to listen.
If not, I will listen to “ATLiens,” the album, for the millionth time and be perfectly fine.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
