Atlanta indisputably set the pace for modern hip-hop. However, Big Boi set the pace for Atlanta, and by proxy, the culture at large. If the genre of hip-hop ever gets its own "Rap Mount Rushmore," a legacy as the region's foremost wordsmith, funkiest gentleman, and resident ATLien certainly guarantees a place for the rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor, and philanthropist born Antwan André Patton. You can often find him in your favorite rapper's "Top Five" and with good reason. Over two decades since he first crash landed, it's nearly impossible to escape his influence. Of course, he made history as the preeminent spitter of the Dungeon Family and one-half of OutKast. The legendary duo sold 25 million albums and garnered seven GRAMMY® Awards, becoming the first and only hip-hop artist in history to win the GRAMMY® for “Album of the Year” upon release of the 2003 RIAA Diamond-certified Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.

His half, Speakerboxxx, set the stage for what has become an equally impressive solo run. He made his proper introduction as a solo artist in 2010 with Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. A modern classic, it captured #3 on the Billboard Top 200, graced year-end lists from Time, Paste, and Vibe, and landed on Pitchfork’s "100 Best Albums of the Decade 'So Far'." 2012’s Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors maintained his momentum fueled further by the 2015 Phantogram collaboration, Big Grams. However, he reached a new level on Boomiverse in 2017. Beyond verbally acrobatic bangers such as “In The South” [feat. Gucci Mane & Pimp C], “Mic Jack” [feat. Adam Levine, Scar, & Sleepy Brown], and “Kill Jill” [feat. Killer Mike & Jeezy], the MC landed “the biggest hit of his solo career”—according to Rolling Stone—in the form of “All Night.” The smash single soundtracked a high-profile Apple Animoji commercial, blew up radio, and clocked 40 million streams within a year. Additionally, he performed it on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!, and more. This set the stage for a pair of 2018 anthems and knockout collaborations, namely “Out at Night” [feat. Clean Bandit] and “Big Bills” [feat. The Knocks], in addition to more music.

Beyond his countless contributions on wax, he personally signed, supported, and shepherded superstars a la Janelle Monáe and Killer Mike. He also co-owns and operates Stankonia Studios in Atlanta.

On the big and small screens, he reprised regular roles on BET’s The Quad and MTV’s Scream as well as appearing in Academy® Award winner Lee Daniels’ FOX series Star and joining the cast of 2018’s Superfly.

An active member of his community and devoted humanitarian, he launched the Big Kidz Foundation, a nonprofit which enriches the lives of youth in Atlanta. Not to mention, he’s an avowed animal lover, providing a home to owls and his latest puppy.

In the end, Boomiverse represents what Big Boi aptly describes as “another dimension of music” and continues a tradition of “doing things that have never been done before.”

Big Boi kicked off 2019 by taking the stage alongside Maroon 5 and Travis Scott at the on February 3, 2019. Followed by the release of two new tracks “Doin’ It” [feat. Sleepy Brown] and “Return of the Dope Boi [feat. Killer Mike and Backbone].

Big Boi to embark on the Dungeon Family Tour in April with Atlanta luminaries and members of the Dungeon Family, including Goodie Mob, Sleepy Brown, Organized Noize and KP The Great. For latest tour and ticket sales information please visit BigBoi.com. 

The project features lead singles “Mic Jack” featuring Adam Levine and “Kill Jill” featuring Killer Mike & Jeezy. This past week Big Boi unveiled the slick and sexy video for his latest single, “Chocolate” featuring Trozé, to wide fanfare from media outlets and fans worldwide. The video premiered to a full house during the intermission of Dave Chappelle’s recent Radio City Music Hall performance while the song was featured in this past week's episode of the HBO series, Ballers.

Big Boi's 2010 solo debut, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, bowed at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and received unanimous critical acclaim with Pitchfork proclaiming it one of the "100 Best Albums of the Decade 'So Far'" and topping year-end lists from Time, Paste, Vibe, and more. His 2012 follow-up Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors enamored tastemakers and fans alike and boasted collaborations with A$AP Rocky, Killer Mike, Kid Cudi, and more. In 2015, Big Boi collaborated with Phantogram to create supergroup Big Grams. Their debut self-titled album was released to critical and fan acclaim.

One of history's tightest and most clever rhyme mavericks, Big Boi's indelible influence courses throughout two generations of rap music As one-half of OutKast, Big Boi has achieved seven GRAMMY® Awards, sold over 25 million albums, and created a string of music's most influential work, including Aquemini, Stankonia, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, and Speakerboxxx/The Love Below—which went RIAA Diamond and made the duo the first and only hip-hop artist in history to win the GRAMMY® for “Album of the Year.”

The Dirty South wasn't always known for rap. When Outkast first emerged in 1994, the southern hip hop scene was largely discounted in the music world. The duo's Atlanta upbringing felt like a liability.

"We come from a time when it wasn’t cool to be from Atlanta," the rapper known as Big Boi tells me. They weren't cowed. The title of Outkast's debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, explicitly nodded to geography. The animosity boiled over at the 1995 Source Awards, when Outkast won for best new rap group and drew overt boos from denizens of the East Coast rap scene. In a tense acceptance speech, André 3000 declared, "The South got something to say."

The proclamation proved true when the group's intergalactic ATLiens record arrived a year later, packed with little morsels of Southern pride ("If you like fish and grits and all that pimp shit..." goes the title track refrain). "We had to make them respect us," says Big Boi. "When we won best new artist and we got booed, that fueled the fire. That just made us go harder, know what I mean? Since then, it's got to be elite street jedi rap shit. It’s got to be the cream of the crop."

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It’s not your typical class on a campus known for engineers and scientists.

“The name of the course is Engaging the Lyrics of Outkast and Trap Music to Explore Politics of Social Justice,” explains Dr. Joycelyn Wilson. “We turn Outkast’s lyrics into a text and we use the narratives to have a larger conversation about social justice.”

Wilson studied the music and lyrics of Outkast as part of her dissertation.

“I felt like Outkast represents innovation,” she explains.

Originally, the students were not aware the class was about Outkast. It was just billed as a “race, science, and technology” course.

“When I found out it was about Outkast and social justice, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to take this class,’” says industrial engineering major Raianna Brown.

Wilson says she introduces students to the lyrics first, and then the class listens to the music.

“Often we’re attracted to the sound first. Then we analyze the words.”

While much of the focus was on Outkast, Wilson and her students reviewed songs across the hip-hop spectrum from Lauryn Hill to Lil Yacthy.

Through a course like this about music, students are introduced to urban issues and that begins a conversation.

“Having a course where you have discussions about social and political issues, it’s nice to have that change,” says mechanical engineering student Ahmed Aly.

To wrap up the course, Wilson arranged for Antwan Patton, better known as Big Boi from Outkast, to visit the class and take questions from the students.

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Big Boi gave a funky, propulsive performance of new single "Mic Jack" on Monday's Tonight Show. The Outkast rapper spit rhymes into a gold microphone, backed by DJ scratching, a trio of vocalists (including longtime collaborator Sleepy Brown) and the Roots' Questlove on drums.

"Boomiverse coming soon," Big Boi declared after the performance, hyping his upcoming solo LP – his first since 2012's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. The rapper announced Boomiverse last week and released a pair of new tracks: "Mic Jack," which features Maroon 5's Adam Levine and "Kill Jill," assisted by fellow Atlanta stars Killer Mike and Jeezy.

Full Story & Video at RollingStone.com

Big Boi has revealed plans to release a new album titled Boomiverse, the Outkast rapper's first solo LP since 2012's Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors.

On Thursday, 4/20, Big Boi will drop a pair of Boomiverse tracks: "Mic Jack," featuring Maroon 5's Adam Levine, premieres on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show, while "Kill Jill," co-starring Big Boi's Atlanta brethren Killer Mike and Jeezy, arrives Thursday night.

Full Story at RollingStone.com

Big Boi is back in a big way—the Atlanta legend's next album, BOOMIVERSE, is due out in June. Two singles have dropped thus far, "Mic Jack" with Adam Levine and "Kill Jill," featuring longtime Dungeon Family affiliates Killer Mike and Jeezy.

Both songs confirmed what we already knew: Big Boi knows how to choose his singles. And while we enjoyed his more experimental turns, like 2015's Phantogram collaboration Big Grams, it sounds like BOOMIVERSE is a return to hip-hop and R&B.

The biggest change may be the artist's reunion with L.A. Reid, the Epic Records exec behind Outkast's early success and Big Boi's masterful first solo album, Sir Luscious Left Foot...The Son of Chico Dusty. After a seven year hiatus (Reid switched jobs), the two are back under the same label umbrella, and it sounds like they're making magic.

When Big Boi stopped by the studio, he laid out a list of surprising collaborators: DJ Dahi, Scott Storch, and lesser-known names like Eric Bellinger and Sean Douglas all contributed to the album, which the rapper recorded between Atlanta and L.A.

One thing that didn't change this time around was how Big Boi chose his singles. There are listening sessions, of course, but it's his children that really tell the rapper when he has a hit on his hands.

Watch Interview at PigeonsandPlanes.com

Big Boi brought out Killer Mike at a pop-up concert hosted by Atlanta radio station V-103 on Saturday. The two performed a song from Big Boi's upcoming album which also featured Young Jeezy. The album was set to be finished in January and will also feature Gucci Mane, Big Boi said in an interview with Creative Loafing Tampa in December.

Full Story at The FADER