The artist that shaped Outkast’s Big Boi: “He was my favourite rapper coming up”
Outkast was among the most exciting rap duos of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Comprised of André 3000 and Big Boi, the Atlanta collective released an unfathomable amount of chart-topping material. From Aquemini and Stankonia to Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Outkast were unstoppable.
Big Boi has reached the top of the charts as part of the dynamic duo and has had tremendous success. However, as a collective, Outkast’s last full-length project was the 2006 album Idlewild.
Big Boi was rapping before he met his partner in crime, André 3000. However, the duo came together as teenagers in East Atlanta following a rap battle at the Lenox Square Mall, a popular hotspot on the city’s East side. Following this, the two recognised their talents and swiftly became a dynamic duo.
Outkast began to make waves in the 1990s. However, before the collective burst onto the scene, they were inspired by other artists. As such, it is unsurprising that Big Boi (real name Antwan Patton) named a 1980s icon during an interview with Complex about some of his musical influences.
While speaking about some of the artists he enjoyed listening to before fame, Patton named a vocalist who surprised even the interviewer when he revealed that he loved Kate Bush’s 1982 project The Dreaming.
Speaking about the album, the emcee stated, “This is one of the first [Kate Bush albums] I was introduced to when I was in the sixth grade. It’s kind of a dark album. My favourite song on that album was ‘Pull Out the Pin.’ Man, her vocal range is incredible. And the music. Once again, me being a producer, I listen to all aspects of the music, and take the product as a whole. It was just a well-put-together record. She killed it.”
He added, “This is a good place to start [if you’re not familiar with Kate Bush’s catalogue]. This, Hounds of Love, Lionheart. Her first four or five albums are crazy. The new stuff, like Aerial, is still her, but it’s more polished. This is like, dirty.”
However, after turning his attention to hip-hop and his Atlanta upbringing, Big Boi revealed that in the 1980s, he was heavily influenced by New York rap music, particularly Slick Rick.
Opening up about his feelings towards the creator of the historic 1988 album, The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, Patton recalled, “He was one of my favourite MCs coming up. I had that tape as well. I might’ve been in the 5th or 6th grade or something like that, and he was just the coolest rapper on the planet. Him and Big Daddy Kane were just the coolest guys ever.”
He concluded by lauding Slick Rick (real name Richard Walters), finishing, “He spit game. He was one of the greatest storytellers of all time, when it comes to hip-hop music. And that was just a great record. You could visualise the words and things he was saying. He was so cool. I’m all about the cool shit.”