Outkast, Andre Benjamin (Dre) and Antwan Patton (Big Boi), blend soul, rap, and funk to lead the Atlanta Dirty South style to public acclaim during the late '90s. Outkast signed to the LaFace label just after high school. Their debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, hit the Top 20 in 1994 and went platinum that year. They also won Best New Rap Group of the Year at the 1995 Source Awards. Aquemini was released in 1998 and went double-platinum. OutKast was sued over the album's lead single "Rosa Parks" by none other than the civil rights pioneer herself, who claimed that the group had unlawfully appropriated her name to promote their music, also objecting to some of the song's language. The initial court decision dismissed the suit in late 1999. Dre modified his name to Andre 3000 before the group issued its hotly anticipated fourth album, Stankonia, in 2000. Riding the momentum of uniformly excellent reviews and the stellar singles "B.O.B." and "Ms. Jackson," keeping the momentum going, it went triple platinum. The release of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2003 showed no signs of them slowing down any time soon. The album went quadruple platinum with such infamous singles as "The Way You Move," "Hey Ya!," and "Roses." In the years following the release both Big Boi and Andre 3000 involved themselves in film projects. The rappers took roles in various pictures and studied the art of acting and filmmaking. Together with music video director Bryan Barber, the duo created a Prohibition-era musical with a blues-influenced hip-hop score. Idlewild, both the record and the film, was released in August 2006. Andre 3000 and Big Boi continue to work on their own music and film projects (Big Boi has even hinted at running for Mayor of Atlanta). Despite rumors to the contrary, Outkast maintain that they are as tight as ever, and that they will release another record together, The Hard 10.

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Outkast has a simple, smooth style that is actually quite complex and intermingling. The ability of Big Boi and Andre 3000 to mix melodies, lyrics, and the general background noise of life together to make a song that not only works, but won't get out of your head shouldn't be under-celebrated. Outkast has made a significant mark on hip-hop, not to mention making a song about pooh-pooh not smelling like roses to go number one? Ingenious!