Big Boi is one half of one of the best rap groups in history Outkast, he's the leader of the Purple Ribbon Allstars and has brought us talents such as Killer Mike. His partner in Rhyme is Andre 3000, often crowned as one of the best rappers ever and possibly the greatest of all time. Sadly, I have to tell you Andre 3000 isn't the best rapper of all time, he's not even the best rapper in Outkast. Let's break this down piece by piece.
Creatively Outkast has always been front of the line, trying things others wouldn't dare to touch. They've worked with damn near every genre you can think of at some point. Because Andre 3000 was wearing kilts and blouses, everyone believed he was the one pushing this creativity and praised his versatility. So I ask you this, was Big Boi not right there in the studio on the same tracks as Andre? Does he not deserve the same praise for those tracks?
You can say that Andre has done more to keep pushing forward with songs like "Hey Ya" and making guest appearances on tracks with John Legend like "Green Light," showing he can go beyond just what Outkast has already done. In response to that I ask, why are you ignoring Big Boi? Big Boi has released two solo albums. The funk heavy Southern bounce sprinkled with some soul Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, and Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, that features more indie bands and samples than any rap album before it, inspired by several years of performing alongside indie bands at music festivals. He also has the electronic album Big Grams in collaboration with the electronic rock duo Phantogram.
So here we have Big Boi continuing to create different kinds of music with many different artists and producers, and we have nothing from Andre. So, how exactly can we say Andre more creative? We can't. The difference is while Andre had to go all out to entertain the creative process, constantly changing flows to adapt to each song, Big Boi didn't. Big Boi always managed to remain Big Boi on any track he did and that's the mark of a great rapper.
When you hear Andre 3000 on a song you don't know if he's going to rap or sing. You don't know if he's going to use his voice or have it shifted. But, when you hear Big Boi, you hear Big Boi. It's like when you hear "uh, uh, uh" you know Jay Z is about to be Jay Z or you hear Nas say "yeah," that's what it's about to be. If you get a Big Boi feature, you get Big Boi. With Andre 3000 you don't know if you're getting Dre, 3 Stacks, 3 Thou, 3000, or Andre. That versatility is great but it doesn't always make for a long lasting career. Ask MIMS.
I know what you're thinking, lyrically Andre is killing him. But, he's not. Because he has done so much music with Andre people have slept on Big Boi lyrically for over twenty years. Andre admittedly has a more melodic flow and it gets stuck in your head. Everyone loves the song "Ms. Jackson," but nobody can quote Andre's actual verse. But they know Big Boi said:
Your little nosy ass homegirls done got your ass sent up the creek, without a paddle, you left to straddle and ride this thing on out and I knew you and your girl ain't speaking no more ‘cause my dick all in her mouthBut here's the thing, it's not just quoteables that make Big Boi a better rapper, and he has hundreds of them. Big Boi is also able to bring meaningful lyrics to the table. Take for example the song "Knowing." In the song Andre 3000 provides nothing but the chorus, while Big Boi raps away a cautionary tale about the dangers of prostitution and fast money in general. So now we know Big Boi has quotables and the ability to tell stories, but is he clever? For this I point you an unexpected track "Walk It Out (Remix)." On the track Big Boi states:
It's like I'm at the dentist cause everybody got crowns, I'll change to ace of spades, cutthroats, and won't bow down, not a king queen or jack fade this, come clean sonI'll go ahead and break this one down. This verse was dropped at a time when everyone wanted to be king. T.I. was King of The South, The Game was King of the West, Fabolus wanted to be King of New York, Lil Wayne proclaimed he was king of all of rap music. So there's the dentist part, everyone has crowns, easy. Big Boi says he'll switch to Ace of Spades from crown, that's a double entendre. From Crown Royal to Ace of Spades, secondly The Ace of Spades in a deck of cards. That's important because he goes on to state not a king, queen, or jack could fade him. That's because in a game of poker Ace of Spade is higher valued card than any of those. Why are we sleeping on Big Boi? He's just throwing away stuff like that on dance tracks.
Look, I'm not saying Big Boi is the perfect rapper. He really does use the same flow on just about every track, and that's part of his charm. But, I am saying he's a better rapper than Andre 3000. I'm not saying you have to put him in your top 5 or your 10. I'm just saying you have to respect him.
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs.
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I think most people with musical sense would agree. I don’t know andre personally, but he has even agreed that Big Boi is not only the better rapper, but the “smart one”. I look at them as Yin & Yang but anyone who denies Big Boi’s abilities is lying. They are two sides of the same coin. I think TLB was stronger than Speakerboxxx for ME but objectively it’s preferred (SB).
ReplyDeleteDre is fantastic but so is Big Boi and he’s the anchor that kept Outkast going all along. Kind of disrespectful to me that people don’t list his name on these lists or just treat Andre like he was perfect on his own and Big Boi meant nothing. It’s sad
Big Boi is the Baseline of Outkast and he is very good and as a group they're amazing. However, Andre3000 is often the one who grabs the most attention. I rank them as equal in talent.
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