In the 1980s and early ’90s, rap groups like Run-D.M.C. Outsiders didn’t know what to make of the group, considering they were two contradictory characters. Until recently, the band's style wouldn’t be widely dissected, and the eclectic pair would cover only Black-centric magazines and Rolling Stone in their prime. White fashion press was slow to cover OutKast. Jackson.” Their music was unlike anything heard in hip-hop before, but as with their first three albums, OutKast’s visual presentation challenged ideas of what a hip-hop performer might, or should, look like. The album catapulted to quadruple-platinum status with its smash singles, “Hey Ya!” and “Ms. In 1995, the group was booed when they won Best New Rap Group at the Source Awards, an act that unleashed Andre 3000’s famous rejoinder, “The South got something to say.” It was a mission statement, a call for action, and a cultural reset-a callout that reverberates in hip-hop culture to this day.įive years after making that iconic statement, OutKast released Stankonia, an authoritative body of work, crafted to introduce their idiosyncratic style to the larger mainstream. It’s difficult to fathom today, but OutKast’s bold, imaginative style wasn’t always championed by mainstream hip-hop. Twenty-eight years prior, the spot even served as one of the birth places of OutKast, speaking to one of their core artistic obsessions: what it feels like to be young, Black, brilliant, and from the South. And the allure hasn’t changed for decades. Today, hundreds of vloggers film inside the mall, and stars like Lil Baby and Drake casually walk its halls. Among creatives who heavily consume social media, Lenox serves also as a hub for the “cool” kids. There are very few spaces where being Black and spending an excessive amount of money can be expected however, Lenox allows that comfortability. Yet, when entering Lenox, there is a feeling of community. The mall hosts brands like David Yurman, Cartier, Burberry, and Fendi, all fashion houses that have seemingly ignored the Black shopper. Located in Buckhead, Atlanta, suburbs that are home to some of the city’s wealthiest, Lenox Square is where Black customers experience a euphoric atmosphere of luxury shopping-in stark contrast to how luxury stores treat Black patrons in predominantly white areas. But before the group would go on to win six Grammys, score three number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and become one of the most critically acclaimed rap groups, the two would meet in 1992 at an intermediate connector in Atlanta, an abstract wonder in the South: the Lenox Square Mall. In their three previous albums, the duo were unapologetically redefining the Black male consciousness, with meditations on loss, imagination, love, the Atlanta child murders, and a longing for recognition. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Stankonia, the group’s breakout fourth studio album that cemented OutKast’s legendary mark on the music industry. It’s also where Andre “3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, the hip-hop duo behind OutKast, grew up. Atlanta is Black Hollywood, the epicenter of Black music, film, and fashion. It's truly timeless.To understand the multifaceted, nonconforming fashion futurist group OutKast, one must take into consideration the duality of Black culture in the South-particularly in Atlanta, Georgia. Jackson," "B.O.B.," "So Fresh, So Clean") have aged like fine wine and the deeper cuts rival them at just about any moment. But whenever you take the time to really dive back into Stankonia, OutKast sound even better than you remember. These days, it's easy to take for granted how fantastic OutKast were in their prime, and forget how they had to release masterpiece after masterpiece just to get accepted by the East and West Coast scenes that thought the South was a joke. As always, Andre's out-in-space style is grounded by Big Boi's more down-to-earth style and bulletproof punchlines, and standout verses by Killer Mike and Gangsta Boo add grit to OutKast's increasingly melodic sound too. Andre 3000 was still three years away from "Hey Ya!," but he already started flexing his singing muscles on this album, and he was still a razor-sharp rapper too. And the rapping itself was just as out of this world as the music. The production - which combined sampling with live instrumentation and pulled from psychedelia, soul, funk, and more - was as musically ambitious as the classic '60s and '70s records that OutKast and other rappers were using as source material, yet OutKast and frequent collaborators Organized Noize still made it sound like ahead-of-its-time rap music. We recently named OutKast's Stankonia one of 25 early 2000s rap albums that every current rap fan needs to know, and said:
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