Aquemini is the third studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on September 29, 1998, by LaFace 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.
Arista Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of BMG Entertainment, the North American division of German conglomerate Bertelsmann. Founded in November 1974 by Clive Davis and deactivated in 2011, Arista was re-established in 2018. Along with RCA Records, Columbia Records, and Epic Records, it is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels.
CrazySexyCool is the second studio album by American girl group TLC, released on November 15, 1994, by LaFace and Arista Records. Following the group's record deal, they released their debut album Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip in 1992 to positive reviews and commercial success. The group began working on a follow-up in 1993 but experienced an unproductive recording process due to personal issues, notably those of member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who was struggling with alcoholism and her volatile relationship with football player Andre Rison. The album's recording lasted until September 1994, with Lopes' role diminished while she was in rehab.
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast, released on September 23, 2003 by Arista Records. Issued as a double album, its length of over two hours is spread across two solo albums from both of the group's members. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx is a Southern hip hop album with progressive qualities and influence from the P-Funk sound; André 3000's The Love Below largely departs from hip hop in favor of pop, funk, electro, psychedelia, and jazz styles while drawing inspiration from artists such as Prince and D'Angelo.
André Lauren Benjamin, better known as André 3000, is an American rapper, singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he is best known for being one-half of the Southern hip hop duo Outkast, alongside fellow Atlanta-based rapper Big Boi. Benjamin is widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time.
FanMail is the third studio album by American girl group TLC, released on February 23, 1999, by LaFace and Arista Records. The album title is a tribute to TLC's fans who sent them fan mail during their hiatus. FanMail debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 318,000 copies in its first week of release, and spent five weeks at number one.
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.
Patrick Leroy "Sleepy" Brown is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. He is one-third of the Atlanta-based production team of Organized Noize, which has created hits for acts such as Outkast, Goodie Mob and TLC. TLC's "Waterfalls", penned by Brown and Organized Noize's Rico Wade and Ray Murray, was a #1 hit single on Billboard's Hot 100 in the summer of 1995.
ATLiens is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on August 27, 1996, by Arista Records and LaFace 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 Arista Records and LaFace 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 Atlanta.
"Waterfalls" is a song by American hip-hop group TLC, released by LaFace and Arista as the third single from their second album, CrazySexyCool (1994), on May 22, 1995 in the United States, followed by a United Kingdom release on July 24, 1995.
3D is the fourth studio album by American girl group TLC, released on October 10, 2002, by Arista Records. Recorded from May 2001 to July 2002, much of the album was finalized after the death of member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, with her unreleased material that she had recorded for her solo albums Supernova and N.I.N.A. being reworked into new songs. Remaining group members Rozonda Thomas and Tionne Watkins enlisted Dallas Austin, Babyface, Rodney Jerkins, the Neptunes, Raphael Saadiq, Missy Elliott and Timbaland to work on the album.
Idlewild is the sixth and final studio album by the American hip hop duo Outkast. It was released on August 22, 2006, by LaFace Records and served as the soundtrack album to the duo's musical film of the same name, which was released that same month. Containing themes relating to the music industry, the album also featured songs not included in the film while incorporating jazz, blues, swing, and soul styles in its music.
"Dear Lie" is a song by American group TLC. It was written by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and band member Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins for the trio's third studio album FanMail (1999), featuring production by Edmonds. The song was released as the album's third and final single on December 6, 1999, peaking at number 51 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reaching the top 40 in several other countries. "Dear Lie" is included on the group's 2009 compilation album, We Love TLC.
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.
"Hands Up" a song by American girl group TLC. It was written and produced by both Babyface and Daryl Simmons for the band's fourth studio album, 3D (2002). A sensual mid-tempo song that deals with romantic betrayal, it was selected and released as the album's second single in the United States in November 2002, following lead single "Girl Talk" (2002). Arista Records consulted several producers to remix the song for its single release, including Richard X, LaMarquis Jefferson, and Jermaine Dupri.
Modest Fok was a R&B band that was created in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1980 by Debra Killings, James Killings Jr, and William "Vybe Chyle" Burke. The band was previously known as Princess & Starbreeze was signed to Eastwest Records in the 1990s. Their debut album Love or the Single Life was released in 1992 and scored two minor R&B hits on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.
Outkast was an American hip hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of the rappers Big Boi and André 3000. The duo achieved both critical 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. The duo are widely regarded as one of the most influential artists in hip hop.
Neal H Pogue is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing work on Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2004) – which won the Album of the Year category, and his audio mixing work on Tyler, the Creator's Igor & Call Me If You Get Lost – which both records won the Best Rap Album category respectively in 2020 & 2022. Pogue has also produced for artists such as M.I.A, Nelly Furtado, Earth, Wind & Fire and has mixed for artists such as TLC, Pink, Nicki Minaj, Janelle Monáe, Tyler, the Creator, and Steve Lacy. Having engineered and mixed TLC's Grammy nominated 11-time platinum single "Waterfalls", Pogue also arranged the horns on "Waterfalls" under the pseudonym "Shock". Pogue has gone on to work with many prominent names in music.
LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achieved its greatest commercial success during the 1990s, dealing largely in the field of urban music. It was originally distributed by its co-creator Arista Records from 1989 through 2001, after which it was shuttered and absorbed into Arista. In 2004, the label was rebooted, and it began operating through Jive Records until both were absorbed into RCA Records in 2011. Today, the label's back catalog and reissues are managed by Legacy Recordings.
