As the more outlandish and introspective half of the experimental rap duo Outkast, Andre Benjamin—or Andre 3000—has established himself as a bona fide innovator in a musical genre that has seen better creative days. Along with high school buddy Antwan Patton (a.k.a. Big Boi), Outkast has become a giant in the rap world, separating themselves from their hip-hop contemporaries by incorporating more than just thuggish lyrics and pumping beats—they’ve added elements of funk, jazz and rock-n-roll into a genre desperate for change. As for Andre 3000, the exploration into other modes of expression has included delving into jazz and classical music, learning the saxophone and clarinet, and acting in films and on television.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Andre 3000 met Big Boi while the two were sophomores at Tri-Cities High School in East Point. After earning the respect of the other after a few lyric battles, the two formed Outkast and were quickly signed by Antonio “L.A.” Reid to his LaFace label in 1992. Two years later, the pair released Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik on an unsuspecting listen audience and immediately set the music scene on fire. With a blend of hip-hop, southern guitar riffs and laid-back 70’s-style soul, Outkast’s first album peaked at number 20 on the charts and left fans salivating for more. Their second effort, ATLiens, issued in 1996, was a sudden shift from the bubbling funk of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik to futuristic beats and trance-like rhythms. Outkast attracted a wider audience with the ambitious album, as ATLiens hit number 2 on the Billboard 200.
For their third cut, Aquemini, the duo infused jazz, reggae and world beats into their music, thus broadening an already wide palette of sounds. As their rhymes matured, becoming more spiritual and introspective, the music came back down to earth from the interstellar space explored in ATLiens. The first single, Rosa Parks, was a hit, but the Civil Rights heroine sued the group for the unauthorized use of her name The suit was later dismissed. Meanwhile, the album rocketed up the charts and cemented itself at number 2 on the Billboard 200. The best, however, was yet to come: in 2000, Outkast released what has been considered a rap masterpiece, Stankonia. Combining classic P-Funk beats with rock, Outkast produced an album that defied standard hip-hop or anything else on the pop charts. The duo won two Grammy awards in 2001—one for Best Rap Album, the other for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for the single, Ms. Jackson.
It took another three years for Outkast to release their fifth effort, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, a dual release that featured Andre 3000 and Big Boi on separate albums. Rumors swirled about whether or not the two were breaking up: they began conducting separate interviews and Andre 3000 refused to tour to support the album. But the rumors—according to the duo—were untrue. Meanwhile, Andre 3000 began branching out on his own. While learning how to play saxophone and clarinet, Andre 3000 began to appear in feature films and television series, billed as Andre Benjamin. His first roles were memorable: he played a screenwriter in the otherwise forgettable “Hollywood Homicide” (2003) and appeared on a 2004 episode of the f/x crime drama "The Shield" as a comic book store owner who decides to take keeping the piece in his violence-torn neighborhood into his own hands. Then as the wanna-be gansta rapper Da Boo in “Be Cool” (2005), he stood out as welcome comic relief in this second go-round with John Travolta’s popular character, Chili Palmer, who tries this time to make his mark in the music industry. He then ably played the more settled and straight-laced brother among four troubled foster sons seeking to avenge the mysterious murder of their adoptive mother in director John Singleton's hard-edged, if sometime implausible, revenge thriller "Four Brothers" (2005). Andre 3000 was also considered to play Jimi Hendrix in the Hughes Brothers’ biopic, but that project has languished a long time in development hell.