SINCE THE 1993 RELEASE of OutKast's debut single, "Player's Ball," André 3000 has cultivated a powerful distaste for easy wins. Resistance was always core to his duo with Big Boi, and OutKast's wide web of interests yielded dense, unpredictable American pop music, cementing the group's reputation as one of the most gifted songwriting teams in any musical tradition. André in particular seemed to delight in scrambling normies' circuits. "It's the people who take whatever music they doing so far to the left of what was going on," he gushed while naming influences in a 2000 Rolling Stone profile. "Put on any album from goddamned 1966 and put on a Sly Stone album-it sounds very different. P-Funk from any time sounds different. Those are the people that inspired us to blow niggas' minds." Across later OutKast works, André seemed driven by an appetite for this interdisciplinary respect, as the gritty metacommentary on fame, rap clichés, and industry politics guiding "Ova da Wudz" and "Return of the 'G" took a back seat to the restless experimentation of 2003's The Love Below.
This story is from the December 4-17, 2023 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 4-17, 2023 edition of New York magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
104 MINUTES WITH... Lord Maurice Saatchi
The British advertising executive is thoroughly enjoying the rollout for his new book, Orgasm.
HOW TO CRIMINALIZE a PROTEST
In Atlanta, the George Floyd demonstrations of four years ago are being used as evidence of illegal gang activity-and the activists of today could be next.
More Than Mad
Grief drives a fantastic installment in George Miller's series.
War of Attrition
In the Kendrick-vs.-Drake battle, no one wins.
We've Hit Peak Theater
Nobody knows how to succeed on Broadway anymore.
Small Plates, Big Checks
Why restaurant prices feel so high—and why they’re going to stay that way.
Nobody Wants to Mow the Lawn at the Beach
Breck and Georgia Eisner's Amagansett retreat gives the children a cottage of their own.
CHESS BRAT
It was the biggest cheating scandal in chess history. Now, cleared of the most serious accusations, Hans Niemann is gunning for a world title-and doubling down on his opponent-trashing, hotel-wrecking, money-flaunting ways.
MIRIAM ADELSON'S UNFINISHED BUSINESS
One of Israel's most ardent supporters, she could transform the presidential election if she gives to Trump like she did in 2020.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRIAL
Trump is running for president while bumping into the past at a Manhattan criminal courthouse.
