Atlanta’s music scene can be divided into two eras: B.O. (Before OutKast) and A.O. (After OutKast). On April 26, 1994, everything changed.
Before OutKast hit the music scene in the early 1990s, Atlanta was culturally a forgotten city. In hip-hop, New York was the Mecca. Los Angeles and Compton always seemed close to the crown and, arguably, held it for some years.
And other cities such as Houston, Bay Area, Chicago, and Miami all made listeners pay attention to their perspectives in hip-hop. Before OutKast, Atlanta’s mu- sic scene was similar to the ballplayers who could hear the game from outside of the stadium, but never good enough to go inside and play on the field.
Atlanta’s early hip-hop never escaped the barrier of Interstate 285. Kilo Ali, Raheem The Dream and Hitman Sammy Sam were legends from Bankhead to Campbellton Road. But your cousins from California or New York could never relate to the feeling of hearing Kilo Ali’s “Hear What I Hear” while roller skating at Jelly Beans or Screaming Wheels on a Saturday night. At- lanta always had something to say, even when it seemed as if we were the only ones listening. OutKast forced the nation to finally pay attention.
André “Dre” Benjamin, later known as Andre 3000, and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton met in the early 1990s while students at Tri-Cities High School, a school locat- ed in East Point, Georgia. Initially known as 2 Shades Deep, the teen duo would get their big break after meet- ing Rico Wade who was a member of the production trio, Organized Noize.
In 1991, Wade held a job as a manager at Lamonte’s Beauty Supply store in East Point when Dre and Big Boi arrived at the store’s parking lot to showcase their rap skills. Big Gipp, who would be- come a member of the rap group Goodie Mob, blasted A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” from the speakers of his car as Dre and Big Boi rapped for nearly ten minutes straight. Thoroughly impressed by their lyricism and delivery, Wade invited Dre and Big Boi to the Dungeon, a makeshift studio located in the basement of Wade’s mother’s home.
The Dungeon served as the creative space for Organized Noize (Wade, Sleepy Brown, and Ray Murray) to craft music for OutKast and artists such as Goodie Mob, Cool Breeze, Backbone, EJ The Witchdoctor, Big Rube, and Parental Advisory. The collective would be known as the Dungeon Family.
While the Dungeon Family worked on honing their skills in a basement, L.A. Reid and Babyface relocated to Atlanta to start their label, LaFace Records. With back- ing by Clive Davis’ Arista Records and BMG Entertain- ment, LaFace had access to the one thing that most Atlanta-based record labels lacked at the time, worldwide distribution. Initially, a label that focused on pop and R&B music, L.A. Reid would give OutKast an opportunity by first placing them on the remix to TLC’s “What About Your Friends” and giving them a song placement on LaFace’s Christmas album, “A LaFace Family Christmas.” That song became OutKast’s first major single, “Player’s Ball.”
“When OutKast released ‘Southernplayalistic,’ Atlanta was born again. There was a new energy, a new vibe, a new approach to culture. Imagine being present when Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Paul Robeson were crafting their first pieces of work in what would become the Harlem Renaissance. OutKast’s debut album gave rise to Atlanta’s rap renaissance.”
When OutKast released “Southernplayalistic” on April 26, 1994, Atlanta was born again. The city became another place. There was a new energy, a new vibe, a new approach to culture. Imagine being present when Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Paul Robeson were crafting their first pieces of work in what would become the Harlem Renaissance. OutKast’s debut album gave rise to Atlanta’s rap renaissance.
This time, the music felt different. They were telling our story. The kids of Atlanta finally had a voice in hip-hop. OutKast would inherently express the stories of a city through music.
OutKast possessed the lyricism of New York emcees while being able to flow over beats like rappers from the West Coast. They could represent the player motif similar to Memphis’ 8Ball & MJG, and Port Arthur, Texas’ UGK. And they were also as eclectic as New York’s A Tribe Called Quest and California’s Hieroglyphics. OutKast delivered rap verses through thick Southern accents that embodied our reality of being young, black, and from Atlanta. The group did not seek to appease other regions that, at the time, had a strong- hold on rap. OutKast introduced the rap industry to Atlanta and, in a sense, the rap industry would eventually become headquartered in Atlanta.
“I remember life in Atlanta before OutKast, and it’s nothing like it is now,” T.I. shared with me during an interview. “Although we appreciate Sammy Sam, MC Shy D, and Kilo Ali, until OutKast, So So Def, and LaFace came, we weren’t recognized and appreciated abroad like we are now. I believe they got it here.”
Quavo of Migos also shared his thoughts on OutKast’s impact on rap. “Atlanta builds and creates when it comes to music,” Quavo said during an interview in 2016. “We come from the North Side and Atlanta em- braced us as the young wave and young creators. I feel like they created us and we’re just keeping it going. At- lanta has always been creative. The city became what it is because of legends like OutKast.”
OutKast would prove their greatness over the decades after initially being shunned by New Yorkers. During the infamous Source Awards on the night of Aug. 3, 1995, OutKast endured heckles and boos at the Madison Square Garden Paramount Theater. The ceremony amplified the bicoastal rap beef between Death Row Records and Bad Boy Entertainment and OutKast were likely victims of the intensity in the room that night. Following their win for the Best New Artist of the Year award, Dre challenged the rowdy New York crowd with the declaration, “The South got something to say!”
In the years following that night in 1995, the South would say and do a lot on its way to dominating every aspect of rap. Ludacris, T.I., Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Future, Young Thug, Migos, Lil Baby, 2 Chainz, 21 Savage, Gunna, Latto, and others owe OutKast for paving a way for rappers from the South to be heard.
When artists are successful, it impacts an economy within a city. Employment opportunities can increase for managers, publicists, journalists, graphic designers, videographers, stylists, make-up artists, sound engineers, producers, DJs, and others who contribute to the ecosystem of a thriving music scene.
In terms of culture and business, April 26, 1994 will forever be remember as the day OutKast changed the landscape of Atlanta.
This article features an excerpt of “Trap History: Atlanta Culture and the Global Impact of Trap Music.”
About Post Author
