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Big Boi Arrested On Drug Charges

Idolator Staff — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:03:00 +0000

Big Boi has been arrested in Miami on suspicion of illegally possessing drugs including ecstasy and Viagra, authorities said Sunday. The Grammy winner, who had reunited recently with OutKast partner Andre 3000, was charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Big Boi (whose real name is Antwan Patton) had recently released a remix of Amy Winehouse’s “Tears Dry On Their Own”, and has been touring with Cee-Lo Green. Details on his arrest below.

Patton, 36, was booked around 1:30p.m. on a $16,000 bond, according to authorities. A specific account of his arrest has not yet been made available.

The arrest comes just days after longtime collaborator Killer Mike (who just returned from performing with Big Boi in Sweden) told CNN that Andre 3000 has “recorded some stuff solo and he’s also indicated there’s going to be another OutKast album.” Killer Mike did not offer any specific timeframe, but added that “I definitely want to be on that album if it all possible.”

Whether it’s possible, of course, is now an open question in light of Big Boi’s potential legal trouble. Is this a serious misstep for Sir Lucious Left Foot? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments below.

Justin Timberlake And The 9 Other Artists We Demand New Music From

Becky Bain — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:35:23 +0000

Justin Timberlake's newest movie Bad Teacher was released in theaters this past weekend, where it scored an impressive $31 million at the box-office. The success of his newest cinematic venture is just another nail in the coffin that was his music career. He's made it clear that "music is not my focus right now", but when, JT, when?! As desperate as we are for Timberlake to step back in the studio (and not just for another Lonely Island digital short), he isn't the only artist at the top of their game who either fled from the spotlight or focused their energy on alternate projects. Check out the nine other acts we're practically begging to release new tunes. More »

FRIDAY VIDEO TIME: The Highly Subjective Totally Debatable List Of The Best Songs That Start With The Letter “R”

Erika Brooks Adickman — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:59:49 +0000

It’s time once again for Friday Video Time, that special time in the week when we honor the top songs over the last 50 years that start with a specific letter of the alphabet, and this week move on to the letter “R”. The end of the alphabet is in sight and this musical tour is starting to come to a close. It’s hard to believe that the road behind us is longer than the FVT road that lies ahead of us. Check out which “R” songs earned our “Respect” and earned a slot onto this week’s list.

60’s – “Respect” – Aretha Franklin

70’s – “Reasons” – Earth, Wind And Fire

80’s – “Rhythm Nation” – Janet Jackson

90s – “Rosa Parks” – OutKast

00s – “Rehab” – Amy Winehouse

Big Boi Makes A Flashy Entrance With “Shutterbugg”

Idolator Staff — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 02:59:47 +0000

More than ten months after resolving legal issues holding up his new solo album, Big Boi is finally sharing his new music. The rapper and occasional ballet producer is kicking off the official promotion for his long-awaited Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty with “Shutterbugg”, a futuristic slice of funk deliciousness produced by Scott Storch, who’s back on his game after a, uh, small rough patch. See if you can keep up with Big Boi as he rides the intricate beat, speaking up for Atlanta and proving that he hasn’t lost a step.

Big Boi - Shutterbugg

Yes, hours after honoring Kurt Cobain for blazing new trails in rock (really), Big Boi reminded us that when it comes to modern funk and Southern hip-hip, there may still be no one more vital than the pair better known as Outkast. Nice Soul II Soul interlude too, right? You’d better like it, because if you’re holding out for another OutKast album, you may be waiting a while. (Though you’ll surely be thrilled with “Royal Flush”, a Sir Luscious track credited to “Big Boi feat. Andre 3000″. Big Boi told Gyant TV (via Hip Hop Wired) that while he and partner Andre 3000 “have talked” about another collaboration, “we decided to wait until after my album drops [and] Dre plans to release his. Once we have done that we are going to head back to the studio to record another OutKast album.”

Riiiiiight. By then we’ll be jamming to Detox 2. But let’s not let that spoil the moment: it’s great to have Big Boi back.

‘Gossip Girl’ Creator’s Best Of The Decade List Seems Awfully Familiar

Becky Bain — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:31:09 +0000

Josh Schwartz, the dude who brought us boob tube guilty pleasures like The O.C., Gossip Girl and Chuck, took a break from writing angsty teen dialogue for mutants long enough to share his picks for the albums that defined the last decade with EW’s Music Mix blog. It’s hard to dispute that Schwartz has been incredibly influential in music and pop culture throughout the Noughties—credit him with introducing the world to Jason Schwartzman’s other gig (we’re still bummed), and for making Death Cab For Cutie famous enough that they could eventually move on to even more soundtrack work. Heck, we kinda love him, too, for booking power acts like No Doubt and Lady Gaga on Gossip Girl — a show that spawned two of its own potential music stars (even if it only promotes one of them), so we generally approve of what he has to say. A sampling of Schwartz’s self-titled categories after the jump:

Best Albums by the Defining Artists of the ’00s: Radiohead’s Kid A; Jay-Z’s The Blueprint

Best Albums That Saved Their Respective Genres: The Strokes’ This Is It; OutKast’s Stankonia

Best Albums That Changed Those Genres: Kanye West’s College Dropout; Arcade Fire’s Funeral

Best Albums That Capture What This Decade Felt Like: M.I.A.’s Kala; LCD Soundsystem’s Sounds of Silver

We’re noticing a pattern here on all these end-of-the-decade lists: OutKast’s Stankonia and Jay-Z’s The Blueprint held up especially well (even Jay-Z himself says so), as did Kanye’s College Dropout. Guess not everybody hates him as much as we think. (Especially not with six Grammy nominations… We just want to plant the seed now: Lil Mama should interrupt every one of his acceptance speeches, anywhere.)

One more nitpick: what, no love for X-tina on any of these lists? Stripped? Back to Basics? Hello, McFly, anyone remember these fantastic pop albums besides us (and fellow commenter James?)

Check out the rest of Schwartz’s picks at EW’s Music Mix.

NPR’s Songs of the Decade, From Boy Bands to ‘Single Ladies’

Becky Bain — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:48:30 +0000

You already know the end of the year/decade will bring no shortage of best-of lists from perfectly nice people who still think it’s all about the Strokes or Neko Case. But the most interesting decade-in-review feature we’ve seen yet isn’t a countdown—it’s just a smart look back at the biggest hits of the decade by the whiz kids over at NPR.

For the last two weeks, the music crew that puts together NPR’s Song of the Day segment, has taken a smart look back at the best and brightest in pop smashes from the aughts – one song and one year at a time. Check out their ten picks for the songs that summed up the 00’s, complete with a brief write-up (full song-by-song analysis can be seen at the source). Apologies to those with an aversion to Britney Spears and Idol alumni: this just wasn’t your time.

2009: “Single Ladies” – Beyoncé
“Beyoncé has given us, finally, a dance craze that requires little more than the deployment of jazz hands with a wrist twist, thus inspiring countless episodes of behind-the-wheel above-the-waist breakdowns and an unfortunate number of full-body dance-floor takeovers. Not least because she had one of the best videos of all time.”

2008: “Teardrops on My Guitar” – Taylor Swift
“During a decade in which teenagers learned to express the most intimate details of their lives through social media, it’s nice to know that their confessions can still be universalized in an age-old tool of expression: the three-minute pop song.”

2007: “Umbrella” – Rihanna
“‘Umbrella’ reads at first as ineffably strange, metaphorically obvious, darkly futuristic… here, [Rihanna]’s piercing yet even-keeled alto plays the role so well that we hardly notice its profound lyrical triteness.”

2006: “Crazy” – Gnarls Barkley
“Built around a Spaghetti Western sample, the band’s first single… was an instant viral hit. For what seemed like years, the song wound up hanging over the popular consciousness like a wistful being bearing its soul.”

2005: “Since U Been Gone” – Kelly Clarkson
“[Kelly] belts out one of the decade’s finest pop anthems, following a familiar formula — jilted ex-girlfriend indignantly declares independence — but infusing it with energy, charisma and full-throated intensity. Sure, the over-the-top, loud-louder-loudest production helps. But it’s an unmistakably great pop-rock song, thanks most of all to an unmistakably great pop-rock singer.”

2004: “Toxic” – Britney Spears
“‘Toxic’ is as addictive as the ‘poison paradise’ it imbibes. The buzzing, rockabilly twang and now-classic four-note string interludes still sound fresh and futuristic. Spears’ breathy vocals grapple perilously and pleasurably.”

2003: “In Da Club” – 50 Cent
“The beat which drives “In Da Club” could fairly be called harsh or elegantly spare; it sounds as if it were built out of Duplos and the most Midi handclaps ever. Naturally, it helped set off the ringtone craze, becoming so ubiquitous that just two years later, it was a tongue-in-cheek, kind of retro move to still have it vibrating the table when your mom called.”

2002: “The Middle” – Jimmy Eat World
“It was a high-school outcast’s anthem with a start-stop hook that hiccuped its way through the chorus; who could resist? The accompanying music video even encouraged fully clothed non-conformity in a sea of underwear-clad young people. (Seriously.)”

2001: “So Fresh, So Clean” – OutKast
“Dre and Big Boi intermingle not only their points of view in each verse, but also attempt to unpack the differences between commercial gangsta rap and more socially conscious hip-hop.”

2000: “Bye Bye Bye” – ‘N Sync
“‘Bye Bye Bye’” demonstrates that, while trends come and go, a propulsive and almost demonically infectious pop tune can still sear itself into a listener’s memory with only the slightest provocation. Just referencing that chorus — ‘It ain’t no lie / Baby, bye bye bye’ — is enough to drill the song into all nearby skulls for hours, if not days.”

There’s no denying that many of the songs on this list were merely the most ubiquitous hits for the years in which they were released—but, sorry Taylor Swift, 2008 totally belonged to Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl.” (Taylor had a darn good ‘09, of course, and she just might take the cake in 2010, though, if the myriad of awards bestowed upon her this year are any indication.) Read the full commentary of each track at NPR and relive the Noughties all over again.

Pitchfork Counts Down The Decade, Embraces Early-’00s Nostalgia

Maura — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:30:47 +0000

Pitchfork’s “P2K” project completed its first installment today, with its countdown of the best singles released between 2000 and “sometime in mid-2009″ revealing its top 20. The site bequeathed its “No. 1 single of the decade” title on OutKast’s “B.O.B.”—which, as it turns out, was also No. 1 for the site’s best of 2000-2004 list from a few years back. I actually don’t have a problem with either the pick or the implied classic-rock consistency; the messy chaos of “B.O.B.,” which splatted all over the genre map when it came out at the beginning of this decade, was and remains, as the ‘Fork’s Stuart Berman writes, “a future-shocked ferocity… that just cannot be duplicated.” But it made me wonder about how well the songs from the first part of the decade had aged in the minds of writers—and, by extension, the minds of people who love arguing over every proclamation Pitchfork makes. Let’s get counting down!

The top 10 of Pitchfork’s 2000-2004 list, with the end-of-decade placement in parentheses:
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Maps” (No. 6 of the decade)
9. The Rapture, “House Of Jealous Lovers” (No. 16 of the decade)
8. Missy Elliott, “Work It” (No. 54 of the decade)
7. Beyoncé ft. Jay-Z, “Crazy In Love” (No. 4 of the decade)
6. Annie, “Heartbeat” (No. 17 of the decade)
5. Kylie Minogue, “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” (No. 37 of the decade)
4. Missy Elliott, “Get Ur Freak On” (No. 7 of the decade)
3. LCD Soundsystem, “Losing My Edge” / “Beat Connection” (”Losing My Edge”: No. 13 of the decade)
2. OutKast, “Hey Ya!’ (No. 12 of the decade)
1. OutKast, “B.O.B.” (No. 1 of the decade)

In contrast, we can say that the Revised Top 10 Of 2000-2004 (i.e. the “best of the decade” list with songs from 2005-2009 stripped out) looks like this:
10. Jay-Z, “99 Problems”
9. LCD Soundsystem, “Losing My Edge”
8. OutKast, “Hey Ya!”
7. Arcade Fire, “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”
6. Radiohead, “Idioteque”
5. Missy Elliott, “Get Ur Freak On”
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Maps”
3. Daft Punk, “One More Time”
2. Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z, “Crazy In Love”
1. OutKast, “B.O.B.”

I present these lists side-by-side with the obvious disclaimer that Pitchfork isn’t a monolithic entity, despite Internet types’ constant attempts to characterize it as such; the makeup of the staff has changed over time as far as population and “growing up,” etc., etc. But it’s still kind of neat to juxtapose these two lists; the plunge of “Work It,” for example, makes me wonder if the critical love affair with Missy Elliott has sort of ended thanks to her not-so-consistent outing. On the flip side, “99 Problems” was No. 22 in 2004. Has time made it a better song? Is the secret hidden somewhere within Rick Rubin’s beard?

And just for the sake of Making More Lists, here’s the list’s broken-out Top 10 of 2005-2009:
10. Antony & the Johnsons, “Hope There’s Someone”
9. Justin Timberlake feat. T.I., “My Love”
8. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z, “Umbrella”
7. LCD Soundsystem, “Someone Great”
6. Kelly Clarkson, “Since U Been Gone”
5. Hercules & Love Affair, “Blind”
4. Gnarls Barkley, “Crazy”
3. Animal Collective, “My Girls”
2. M.I.A. feat. Bun B and Rich Boy, “Paper Planes (Diplo remix)”
1. LCD Soundsystem, “All My Friends”

Note also that the Top 10 of 2000-2004 ended at No. 14 on the big list, while the back end of the decade petered out at No. 28; if “Ignition (Remix)” (No. 19 on the big list) had come out in 2005, it would have placed just behind “Blind” and rendered the Top 10 even more pop-centric. Your theories for why this might be the case are welcome!

The Top 500 Tracks Of The 2000s: 20-1 [Pitchfork]
The Top 100 Singles Of 2000-2004 [Pitchfork]
[HT: Hipsters United]

Which Classic Albums Most Deserve To Be Re-Imagined In A Live Setting?

Maura — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 22:00:40 +0000

Tomorrow I’ll be tripping down to Philadelphia to attend The Roots Picnic, an all-day affair masterminded by Jimmy Fallon’s sidemen (haha, jk guys) and featuring two sets by the band; TV On The Radio, Santigold, and Antibalas are also on the bill. But perhaps the most intriguing part of the day’s festivities will be the start-to-finish performance of Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back–yes, they’ve done it before, but this time, the musical duties will be handled by the Roots and Antibalas. This and the impending relaunch of Unplugged have made me wonder: What albums most deserve a live re-imagining, whether it’s the transformation of samples into band arrangements or the classic Unplugged treatment? I’ve actually been mulling over this question all day, and can’t think of anything off the top of my head–unless Freestyle’s Greatest Beats, Volume One counts. (It should!) After the jump, a few musical experts offer their suggestions. Please feel free to expand further, and if you’re going to the picnic, come say hello!

Christopher R. Weingarten, Public Enemy sample expert / brevity exerciser: “Kylie.” (No specifics, although I would love to hear “2 Hearts” blown out by a big band.)

Lucas Jensen, IMterviewer: “I generally don’t like that stuff, unplugged for the sake of, BUT I imagine that The Queen Is Dead would be great.”

Amy Phillips, Pitchfork news editor: “Maybe Madonna’s Like A Prayer”

Dan Gibson, All My Children blogger: “Paul’s Boutique, although that doesn’t make much sense logistically. I also would have really liked to hear Aquemini straight through with a band.”

Tyler Coates, man about the Internet: “Maybe some of Jason Molina’s Songs: Ohia albums, but performed with the full band he has now.”

The Roots Picnic [okayplayer.com]

Big Boi Settles Label Dispute, Finally Prepares To Release New Album

Maura — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:00:14 +0000

Big Boi has apparently solved his dispute with Jive Records, which means that his long-in-the-works Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty may actually see the light of day. “Probably within the next week or so, there will be a big announcement coming out and the album will be out this summer–believe it, it’s done, it’s it in the can and I’m very happy with it,” he said. He also mentioned that a new OutKast album was in the very very early planning stages, and that it’s going to be “ridiculous.” [Word Of South via SOHH]

Big Boi Has His Very Own Ringtone

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 10:45:00 +0000

ARTIST: Big Boi
TITLE: “Ringtone”
WEB DEBUT: Feb. 5, 2009

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: This track—presumably from the oft-pushed-back Sir Lucious Left Foot—begins with a dobro lick, which got me a bit excited. But then the song shifts gears, and for those of you out there who hate on Autotune, well, uh, you better just stop reading now. “Ringtone” is led by a constant descending keyboard pattern that doesn’t seem interesting enough to shoulder an entire song, and the dobro’s reappearance is jarring, even annoying. Big Boi is nimble on the verses, and the chorus is decent enough–-BB sings “You get your very own theme song/Your very own ringtone” to a girl–-but over the repetitive wisp of a beat, it’s certainly not a banger of any kind. Darn my expectations, but a banger is what I was hoping for when Maura IMed me “new Big Boi track!”

UPDATE: On second listen, I liked it better, but still not tons.

WHERE TO FIND IT: Rock the Dub.