Big Boi
Genre: Rap/Hip-hop
Origin: United States
Outside his partnership with André 3000 as OutKast, and apart from his central role in the Dungeon Family collective, rapper and producer Big Boi has built a lengthy parallel discography on his own. Known for his cool demeanor and witty, high-velocity wordplay, Big Boi effectively debuted as a solo artist with the first half of OutKast’s Grammy-winning blockbuster Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003). Sir Lucious Left Foot…The Son of Chico Dusty (2010), his first true solo album, hit the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 with a push from the Grammy-nominated single with “Shutterbugg.” Big Boi’s additional solo albums, namely Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors (2012) and Boomiverse (2017), along with the collaborations Big Grams (with Phantogram; 2015) and The Big Sleepover (with Sleepy Brown; 2021), have been balanced with extensive time clocked as a producer and featured artist. Killer Mike and Janelle Monáe are among the artists whose careers he has boosted in those and other capacities.
After OutKast broke through in 1993 with the Top 40 hit “Player’s Ball,” Big Boi — born Antwan André Patton in Savannah, Georgia — made select solo featured appearances for the next ten years. “Dirty South” (by fellow Dungeon Family members Goodie Mob), “All N My Grill” (Missy Elliott), “In da Wind” (Trick Daddy), and “A.D.I.D.A.S.” (Killer Mike) were charting singles. For the fifth OutKast full-length, Big Boi and André 3000 opted to record separate sets bundled as Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The Billboard 200-topping release won the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album and Album of the Year. Over the next three years, Big Boi branched out with his Purple Ribbon label, which released the Purple Ribbon All-Stars compilations Got That Purp and Got Purp? Vol. II. The sequel contained early appearances from Janelle Monáe and the Top 40 hit “Kryptonite (I’m on It),” a posse cut featuring Big Boi and Killer Mike. Big Boi additionally guested during this time on Brooke Valentine’s Top 40 entry “Girlfight” and Fantasia’s charting “Hood Boy.” OutKast’s lengthy hiatus began after the subsequent Idlewild project in 2006.
Big Boi prepared his first proper solo album, and over 2008 and 2009 offered some stray singles. “Royal Flush,” on which he linked with André 3000 and Raekwon, was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. In 2010, he was on Janelle Monáe’s “Tightrope” and issued another solo single, “Shutterbugg,” before Sir Lucious Left Foot…The Son of Chico Dusty arrived that July. The loose and rollicking set entered the Billboard 200, R&B/hip-hop, and rap charts at number three. “Shutterbugg” bagged another Grammy nomination in the rap field, and “Tightrope” was up for Best Urban/Alternative Performance. In December 2012, the follow-up Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors hit number 34 on the Billboard 200 with a guest list that extended far beyond the rap realm to involve the likes of Little Dragon, Wavves, and Phantogram. Big Boi continued to work with the latter act as Big Grams, whose self-titled EP peaked in the Top Ten of the rap and alternative charts in 2015. He offered his third official solo LP, BOOMIVERSE, in June 2017. The production was handled primarily by longtime partners Organized Noize, along with assists from the likes of “Shutterbugg” collaborator Scott Storch, Dr. Luke, and Cirkut.
Between albums, Big Boi picked up a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song with Danger Mouse’s “Chase Me,” a track that also involved Killer Mike and El-P (aka Run the Jewels). Coinciding with his appearance in February 2019 alongside Maroon 5 at the Super Bowl half-time show in Atlanta, Big Boi issued the single “Doin’ It,” featuring Sleepy Brown. Additional collaborations with Brown followed, such as “Intentions,” which also featured CeeLo Green, and 2020’s “Can’t Sleep.” The Big Sleepover, Big Boi and Sleepy Brown’s long-promised collaborative album, was planned for 2021, preceded by another single, “The Big Sleep Is Over.” ~ Andy Kellman
