OutKast

OutKast is a popular and successful American hip hop duo based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Their original musical style was a mixture of Dirty South and G-Funk; since then, funk, soul, electronica, and rock elements have been added to the mix. The duo is André "André 3000" Benjamin (formerly known as "Dre") and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, both from the Atlanta area.

Trivia

• The video for "Hey Ya" is based on The Beatles' landmark appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The video's storyline has "The Love Below" (a fictional band, with all members played by Andre with the use of special effects) performing in London.
• The video for "Roses" is loosely based on the musical West Side Story. It featured sparring 1950s-style gangs, one representing Speakerboxxx, and one representing The Love Below, parodying the widespread arguing among critics and fans as to which half of the album was better.
• In a campaign commercial released October 30, 2003, the Wesley Clark presidential campaign made reference to OutKast. The reference was an attempt to get the attention of a much younger generation of potential voters. In the ad, Clark is sitting in a coffee shop with a dozen middle-class young adults of various American ethnicities. The young adults do not speak, but sit and listen as Clark appears to be answering their questions. "Well, to answer your questions, no, I would not have voted for the Iraq war… I am pro-choice and I am a strong believer in Affirmative Action; and I don't care what the other candidates say, I don't think OutKast is really breaking up. André 3000 and Big Boi just cut solo records, that's all." The last comment prompts one of the young adults, a blonde-bearded Caucasian, to say approvingly "alright" and to tap fists with Clark.
• They were both "Punk'd" by Ashton Kutcher, after dealing with a very expensive rental car that has been crashed.
• The miniature horse in the "Ghetto Musick" video was from Tanglewood Farm (www.tanglewoodfarmminis.com), a farm in metro Atlanta (OutKast's home), that raises miniature animals. The foal's name is Tiny Bubbles.
• While searching through a dictionary Big Boi and Andre came across the word "outcast" and decided this would be a perfect group name, for at the time the hip hop industry was dominated by eastcoast and westcoast rappers who saw southern rappers as outcast. They simply changed the "c" in the word into a "k".