Aquemini is the third studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on September 29, 1998, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. The title is a portmanteau of the two performers' Zodiac signs: Aquarius and Gemini, which is indicative of the album's recurring theme of the differing personalities of the two members. The group recorded the majority of the album in Bobby Brown's Bosstown Recording Studios and Doppler Studios, both in Atlanta, Georgia.
André Lauren Benjamin, known professionally as André 3000, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and flutist. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he was one half of the Southern hip hop duo Outkast along with rapper Big Boi, which the two formed in 1992. Benjamin is widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time.
"Hey Ya!" is a song by American hip hop duo Outkast, performed by its member André 3000, who wrote and produced the song. Along with "The Way You Move", recorded by Outkast's other member Big Boi, "Hey Ya!" was released by Arista Records as one of the two lead singles from the duo's fifth album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, on September 9, 2003. The track became a commercial success, reaching number one in the United States, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Norway, and Sweden. "Hey Ya!" received critical acclaim upon release, and is consistently ranked as one of the greatest songs of the 2000s. The song was ranked number 10 in Rolling Stone's 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". "Hey Ya!" has become recently popular on apps such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts where it is used in POV audios to attract attention for their creative use of the words. It also is used as a sample of one of Lil Nas X's songs, "That's What I Want".
Big Boi and Dre Present… Outkast is the only compilation album by the American Southern hip hop duo Outkast. It was released December 4, 2001 through LaFace/Arista Records. The compilation is composed of four new tracks, including three new songs—"Funkin' Around", "The Whole World" and "Movin' Cool ", as well as five songs from Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, one from ATLiens, and three each from Aquemini and Stankonia.
"Ms. Jackson" is a song by the American hip hop duo Outkast, consisting of André 3000 and Big Boi. It was released on October 24, 2000, as the second single from Outkast's fourth album, Stankonia. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week on February 17, 2001, and reached number one in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Rolling Stone ranked it 55th on its "100 Best Songs of the 2000s" list in June 2011 and at number 145 on its "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2021. On October 2011, NME placed it at number 81 on its list of the "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
ATLiens is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on August 27, 1996, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. From 1995 to 1996, Outkast recorded ATLiens in sessions at several Atlanta studios—Bosstown Recording Studios, Doppler Recording Studios, PatchWerk Recording Studio, Purple Dragon Studios, and Studio LaCoCo—as well as Chung King Recording Studio and Sound On Sound Recording in New York City.
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik is the debut studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast, released on April 26, 1994, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. Having befriended each other two years prior, rappers André 3000 and Big Boi pursued recording music as a duo and worked with production team Organized Noize, leading to a record contract with LaFace. With the team producing, Outkast recorded the album at the Dungeon, D.A.R.P. Studios, Purple Dragon, Bosstown, and Doppler Studios, all in their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
"It Ain't Hard to Tell" is the second single and last track from American rapper Nas' debut album, Illmatic. Although the track was technically the second single on the album, it was the first single to be released after the album was pressed in 1994. The first single, "Halftime," was released two years prior to Illmatic's debut.
"The Way You Move" is a hip-hop and soul song by the American hip hop duo OutKast, performed by its member Big Boi. The song features OutKast mentor Sleepy Brown on guest vocals. Along with "Hey Ya!", recorded by OutKast's other member André 3000, "The Way You Move" is one of the two lead singles from Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, OutKast's double album project that includes a solo album from each member.
"My Way" is a song by American singer-songwriter Usher, released by LaFace and Arista Records on June 9, 1997 as the third single from his album of the same name (1997). The song was written by Usher alongside its producers, Manuel Seal and Jermaine Dupri, the latter of whom provides an uncredited guest appearance and backing vocals.
"Mighty 'O'" is the first single from OutKast's sixth studio album, Idlewild, released on June 6, 2006. The single was only released in the United States, and is one of only three songs from the album in which both members of OutKast appear together. The other two are "Hollywood Divorce" and "PJ & Rooster". The single peaked at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song contains a prominent sample of Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher", written by Calloway, Clarence Gaskill and Irving Mills.
The discography of Outkast, an American hip hop duo, consists of six studio albums, one compilation album, one soundtrack album, one video album, 32 singles, three promotional singles, and 21 music videos. In 1992, Outkast became the first hip hop act to be signed to the label LaFace Records; with their first studio album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994) that debuted at number 20 on the US Billboard 200. Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik spawned the commercially successful single "Player's Ball", which reached number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Their following two albums, ATLiens (1996) and Aquemini (1998), were commercially successful in the United States; both albums peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, and were certified double-platinum by the RIAA. Three singles were released from each album; all three from ATLiens charted on the Billboard Hot 100, with "Elevators " peaking at number 12, making it the most successful. The lead single from Aquemini, "Rosa Parks", peaked at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100: two more singles, "Skew It on the Bar-B" and "Da Art of Storytellin' ", were released from the album. In 1998, Outkast collaborated with hip hop group Goodie Mob on the single "Black Ice " and with rapper Cool Breeze on the single "Watch for the Hook"; the singles peaked at numbers 50 and 73 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.
"Elevators " is a song by American hip hop duo Outkast, released as the lead single from their second studio album, ATLiens. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100, Outkast's highest-peaking song on the chart until the release of "Ms. Jackson" in 2000. The single also peaked at number one on the US Hot Rap Tracks chart. It was later featured on their compilation Big Boi and Dre Present... OutKast.
"Rosa Parks" is a song by the hip hop duo Outkast. It was released as the second single from their album Aquemini (1998), and was that album's most successful single. The song's title comes from the civil rights movement activist Rosa Parks.
"Jazzy Belle" is the third and last single from hip hop duo Outkast's second studio album, ATLiens. It was released as a remix single and it peaked at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is the only single from the album ATLiens to be produced by Organized Noize, the other two singles being produced by OutKast themselves.
"Da Art of Storytellin' " is the third and final single from hip-hop duo Outkast's third studio album Aquemini. The song was released as a single on May 25, 1999, but failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at #67 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Only the single version of the song features Slick Rick, with his verse completely absent from the album version. This song is not to be confused with Slick Rick's album The Art of Storytelling, released on the same day. This song was sampled in J. Cole's song "Land of the Snakes" from his studio album Born Sinner.
Outkast was an American hip hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi and André 3000. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential hip hop acts of all time, the duo achieved both critical acclaim and commercial success from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, helping to popularize Southern hip hop with their intricate lyricism, memorable melodies, and positive themes, while experimenting with a diverse range of genres such as funk, psychedelia, jazz, and techno.
"Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)" is the debut single by American East Coast hip hop duo Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, released in December 1997 through Columbia Records from their debut studio album Make It Reign. Produced by KNS, the song peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100, at number 21 on the UK Singles Chart, at number 29 on the Official New Zealand Music Chart, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on March 31, 1998, for sales of a million copies. However, the duo's success would be short-lived, as they broke up in 1999 without releasing a follow-up album or single.
"B.O.B" is a song by the American rap duo Outkast from their fourth studio album Stankonia (2000). It was released as the album's lead single on September 18, 2000, by LaFace Records and Arista Records. Produced by Earthtone III, the song has a high-speed tempo beat consisting of drum and bass rhythms, guitars, organs and gospel vocals. Although not a huge commercial success, the song has been cited as one of the greatest songs of all time by publications such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Blender and Complex. The song became popular during the Iraq War.
"The Things That You Do" is a song performed by American R&B singer Gina Thompson from her debut album, Nobody Does It Better (1996). The single version was released as the Bad Boy Remix featuring Missy Elliott, who gained notability and mainstream attention for her unique signature, "Hee-Hee-How" punchline. Elliott's contribution managed to help the single crack the top 20 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it peaked at #12 and spent a total of 29 weeks. The song also appeared on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it peaked at #41.
