Photo: Arista Records
Big Boi and André 3000 made their first major impression as OutKast after they dropped their first studio album three decades ago today.
On April 26, 1994, the Georgia-born duo released their debut LP Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik via LaFace Records/Arista. The album was led by the duo's debut single "Player's Ball" and features appearances from Goodie Mob's CeeLo Green, Big Gipp, T-Mo and Khujo. OutKast recorded the album at studios like The Dungeon, Purple Dragon and Bosstown, which eventually transformed into the duo's main studio Stankonia. Organized Noize's Rico Wade, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown produced the entire album.
“Southernplayalistic was definitely eye-to-eye,” Big Boi told SPIN about making the album. “One person would get far and be like, ‘I got it!’ And then it’d be like, ‘Go ahead and lay it.’ Then I’d do my part. ‘Oh s**t!’ You’re inspiring your partner, bouncing that energy back and forth. That’s what makes the group so unf**kwithable. You have two sides of the same coin with different points of view. The s**t fun, man.”
The album was created just two years after Daddy Fat Sax and 3 Stacks met in high school. Big Boi recalled how they got acquainted while hanging out with a group of friends. Later on, they formed an unbreakable bond that would carry on into their music careers. OutKast continued to release six albums together as well as their own solo LP's.
“We were new to a school, Tri-Cities High School in East Point in 10th grade,” Big Boi explained to American Songwriter. “There was a lot of kids from different schools transferred to this one school so nobody really knew each other. It was like a group of guys, it was like maybe five or six of us. And we started hanging out. Then me and Dre, you know, just stuck to each other and were like, you know, brothers. We were just in and out of school just kind of coolin’. He’s one of my best friends.”
Relive OutKast's debut album now.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE