Song:Hey Ya
Album:Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
The 2003 single Hey Ya was the biggest hit for the rap duo OutKast. They had a long run before that but by 2003 they were drifting apart and the end would come after one more album. OutKast are influential in the Dirty South style of hip hop. Andre "Andre 3000" Benjamin and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton went to high school together in Atlanta. They started doing local shows and that got the attention of the production group Organized Noize. Rico Wade, Ray Murray and Patrick "Sleepy" Brown worked with TLC and Ludicris and I think it's fair to say that Organized Noize was instrumental in the 90s rise of southern rap. Benjamin and Patton called themselves OutKast. They thought they were misfits. OutKast signed with LaFace Records and released the 1994 CD Southernplayalisticadillacmusik. They topped the rap charts with Player's Ball and the CD was certified Platinum. Their first three albums did well but they weren't able to cross over and score a pop hit single. That all changed with the 2000 CD Stankonia. The second single Ms. Jackson topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Stankonia was certified 4XPlatinum. The only problem was Benjamin was getting restless. He moved to Los Angeles to get into acting. He appeared in a couple of things but it wasn't enough and he recorded The Love Below at his home studio. Meanwhile, Patton recorded Speakerboxx in Atlanta. It was decided to release them together as a 2CD OutKast album. Hey Ya was written and performed by Benjamin. The Way You Move was written and performed by Patton. Both songs topped the Billboard Hot 100 and the album was certified Diamond. So it was OutKast's most successful album to date. But they knew they couldn't continue to work like this. They decided to produce the film Idlewild which was released in 2006. It didn't do well. Even the soundtrack didn't do well. OutKast split up. Patton recorded a solo album for DefJam. But they kept delaying the release until it finally escaped in 2010. Patton has recorded four albums with little success. He just released a new CD on Epic. Patton has had success as a producer especially with Janelle Monae. Benjamin returned to acting. His most notable role was as Jimi Hendrix in the 2013 biopic Jimi: All Is By My Side. He returned to music in 2007 mostly doing guest shots on other folks albums. It doesn't look like he is interested in recording his own music anymore. There have certainly been plenty of rumours. OutKast reunited for a few 2014 music festivals. But there are no plans to record new music. Here's the video for Hey Ya by OutKast.
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