S. Samuel
OutKast's Big Boi recently discussed his close-knit relationship with longtime but elusive rap partner Andre 3000 and explained why beefing or feuding never occurred between them.
Boi referenced their longstanding relationship dating back to their teenage years for cementing a bond between them.
“That’s all it is. There’s never been a beef. Never — never been a beef, at all. We’re grown men who started out hip-to-hip since we were 16 years old. We’ve sold more records than anybody, you feel me? … Next year will be our 20-year anniversary. 20 years. It doesn’t seem like that because you’ve got rappers nowadays blowing up when they’re 35 and 36. We’ve already done it all by the time we were 21 and 22-years old. Our peers are our peers [but] we’re younger than some of these ni**as. We might seem like we’re older because their parents listened to us. We were teenagers when we started. We got love for everybody but there’s a perception of being older because you’ve been on top for so long. But there’s never been any beef. I’m just waiting on him to finish his solo album and we’ll see what happens after that. We good. We Gucci.” (Billboard)
He also addressed the public’s infatuation with wondering if they are on good terms with one another.
“I just love making music. I love people but some people get a certain perception from the outside. You know, again, there are ‘Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors’: ‘It must be a problem. They can’t do songs together,’ or ‘What’s going on? They must be mad at each other.’ It’s none of that, we’re just two grown men. We have kids now. We’re just raising our kids and doing our thing. My focus has been primarily music. ‘Dre has been focused on film. He just started doing music again, just a couple years ago with guest appearances. So it’s nothing but perception. [Perception] is a motherf*cker and people that don’t know sh*t are always the ones to talk the most and the bulls*it flies a lot of times. One thing I like about Twitter is that you can hear it from the horse’s mouth. See somebody lying, you can be like, ‘You a lie ni**a. That’s some bullsh*t.'” (Billboard)
Last month, Boi talked about Dre’s plans to put out a new solo album.
Atlanta is just like a brotherhood. Everybody went to school together: it’s so tight-knit that we bump into each other in different spots all the time. There’s a certain camaraderie that goes around and everybody works with everybody. The music is sounding dope. … [OutKast news? Andre 3000’s solo album?] He’s supposed to. You got to talk to him, that boy changes his mind so much I can’t even speak on that no more!” (GQ UK Magazine)
Back in May, the ATLien said he hoped they stayed focused on new music-making.
“We’re just really focused on solo projects. I’m working on mine, he’s working on his, and we’ll just go from there,” Big Boi said. “I just like to make music. I can go either way, solo or Outkast. My whole thing is just to keep the recording process going. When it’s time to do the Outkast record we’ll do it, but right now it’s solo time.” Big Boi says the reunion rumors may have started because Andre and he often work together or simply visit each other in the studio. “I said we were working on music, not the Outkast album,” Big said. “Sometimes he comes to the studio and be in my sessions just checking out music. People get excited when they see us in the studio together, but it was never for one specific project. Sometimes Dre’s in the studio listening to my new music.” (BET)
Check out some recent Big Boi footage below:
