Last year, we posted our list of the top artists we demand new music from. Quite a few are making good on our desires — Daft Punk and Missy Elliott are currently working on their next release, and Fiona Apple just posted new tour dates — but, alas, a new OutKast record seems unlikely. “As of now, there are no plans for another OutKast album,” Andre 3000 told GQ. However, Three Stacks will be dropping his own solo LP. “I’m planning to do a solo project. I don’t know when it will come out, but hopefully it’ll come out this year.” As to what we can expect with his new tunes, he says, “This album will just be me being myself as normal.” Hey, that’s fine with us!

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’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.

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

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.

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.

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’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]

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 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]

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.

Phoenix has had a dance music station broadcasting over the desert air for the last six years, one of the few American radio outlets that provided Taylor Dayne with a slightly fatter royalty check each quarter. In news that was surely a real bummer to the glowstick crowd around these parts, Energy dimmed on Halloween, and Monday brought The Beat, which has a playlist devoted to classic hip-hop. Although I’m not giving up my satellite radio subscription quite yet, it was pretty great to hear these three tracks played consecutively yesterday:

Das EFX, “They Want EFX”:

Outkast, “Rosa Parks”:

EPMD, “Crossover”:

… and a few songs later, Father M.C., with “I’ll Do 4 U”, a track that somewhat mysteriously is a big hit on one station in Tyler, Texas, and nowhere else. (Aside from my heart.)

While some message-board cranks aren’t thrilled with the change, it feels like every other commercially viable radio format– from “Jammin’ Oldies” to those phony “we play what we want” stations–has playlists that have been crushed into a soulless cube of banality. Keep playing Another Bad Creation on a semi regular basis, Phoenix’s The Beat, and catching up on my local commercials just might be worth it.

92.7 The Beat [homepage]

Billboard reports today on a few “top rap acts” with expiring contracts and a taste for more direct streams of cash. Although Jay-Z has proven that hip-hop can venture outside the traditional record-label world, what does that mean for acts like Outkast, LL Cool J, and the always delightful 50 Cent?

Thankfully, none of the article’s four reporters throw the already regrettable phrase “Radiohead model” around, but you have to wonder if that In Rainbows wasn’t at least a little on the mind of the acts profiled.

LL Cool J will complete his three-album deal with Def Jam with the Aug. 5 release of “Exit 13.” By the end of the year, 50 Cent is expected to put out “Before I Self Destruct,” the fourth and final album on his Interscope deal. OutKast owes LaFace/Zomba three more albums under the duo’s four-album contract, with all three releases expected out later this year and next year.

Tiphanie Watson, co-manager for OutKast’s Big Boi, says the duo hasn’t decided yet whether to seek another deal with a major, but adds, “It’s much more beneficial to do it on your own. For an artist with an established fan base, there’s more than one way to come up with strategic branding.”

LL Cool J is hardly a hot property these days–even if Def Jam is partially to blame for his decline, as he seems to think–but you’d have to think there’s some life left in 50 Cent; Outkast, even after Idlewild, seem to be capable of several successful albums if they can stay in the same room long enoughe. However, one decidedly non-major label would like to let any and all acts know that there’s always a home for them at Koch.

Signing with an indie label is the best option for hip-hop stars nearing the end of their deals, says Alan Grunblatt, GM/executive VP of Koch Records, which has charted with Jim Jones, DJ Khaled and Yung Berg. “With a major you’d get an advance, no masters and the deal would be based strictly on royalties,” Grunblatt says. “Koch would do a licensing and/or a P&D deal.”

If there’s any justice in this industry at all, 50 Cent will end up on Koch, a label he famously referred to as a “graveyard”. Then again, wasn’t he supposed to retire or something? What happened to that?

Top Rap Acts Weigh Options As Record Deals End [Billboard]

]]> 5 http://idolator.com/380455/big-bois-ballet-big-is-it-a-big-hit http://idolator.com/380455/big-bois-ballet-big-is-it-a-big-hit#comments Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:15:00 +0000 admin http://f7f8cdc6509661c90507be9f73930433

Who's got the purp? Why, the Atlanta Ballet! Big, the company's collaboration with Outkast's Big Boi, debuted Thursday. "For me [Big Boi's music] sounds like Shostakovich, Stravinsky a little ... just today's Stravinsky," says chorographer Lauri Stallings. No doubt!

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Who’s got the purp? Why, the Atlanta Ballet! Big, the company’s collaboration with Outkast’s Big Boi, debuted Thursday. “For me [Big Boi's music] sounds like Shostakovich, Stravinsky a little … just today’s Stravinsky,” says chorographer Lauri Stallings. No doubt!

Audience members will be pulled on stage. Dancers will weave their way through the audience. Big Boi and a live band will perform some of his greatest hip-hop collaborations.

But the greatest collaborating may be the pairing created by Stallings and Big Boi when Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” is intertwined with “Morris Brown,” a cut from OutKast’s “Idlewild” soundtrack.

Those contrasts — “physical but sublime, beautiful but ugly, loud but soft,” in Stallings’ words — are exactly the feelings this fusion ballet is intended to evoke, both artists said.

“Its very moving, sophisticated, elegant but at the same time it will tear your back off,” Big Boi said.

The show, which is getting good buzz despite the static traffic accident present in the footage above, ends with Big Boi’s new single “Sir Lucious Leftfoot Saves the Day.” I think we can stop calling Andre 3000 the crazy one.

BIG ballet “Kryptonite” at the Atlanta Ballet [YouTube]
Hip-hop meets ballet in Big Boi’s ‘big’ debut [CNN]

]]> 5 http://idolator.com/370713/big-boi-and-andre-3000-try-to-erase-the-memory-of-idlewild http://idolator.com/370713/big-boi-and-andre-3000-try-to-erase-the-memory-of-idlewild#comments Fri, 21 Mar 2008 04:30:26 +0000 Dan Gibson http://03067a6cd1edccc3ea0689cc56d02c48

ARTISTS: Big Boi feat. Andre 3000 and Raekwon
TITLE: "Royal Flush"
WEB DEBUT: March 20, 2008

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ARTISTS: Big Boi feat. Andre 3000 and Raekwon
TITLE: “Royal Flush”
WEB DEBUT: March 20, 2008

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: OutKast as a group has given us so much, it’s hard to really complain. But still, every great track with Big Boi and Andre 3000 helps me forget the misstep of Idlewild a tiny bit.”International Players Anthem” helped quite a bit, and if “Royal Flush” is any indication, Big Boi’s solo album, Sir Luscious Left Foot, might finish the job. Big Boi sounds more like his Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik era self, and any appearance by Raekwon is appreciated. If nothing else, I appreciate Andre’s (who apparently is going by “3 Stacks” somewhat officially now) rhyme of “Nintendo Wiis” and “Whopper with Cheese”. Classic.

Big Boi, 3 Stacks & Rae – Royal Flush *CDQ* [Nah Right]

]]> 2 http://idolator.com/369822/369822 http://idolator.com/369822/369822#comments Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:30:18 +0000 Michaelangelo Matos http://e69111c91357aa6663f53e4956a10559
Big Boi of Outkast has long professed his interest in dance, so it's not terribly surprising that he's collaborating with the Atlanta Ballet; the performance is, of course, titled Big. More »]]>

Big Boi of Outkast has long professed his interest in dance, so it’s not terribly surprising that he’s collaborating with the Atlanta Ballet; the performance is, of course, titled Big. It’ll feature a whole bunch of Big Boi’s ATL cronies (Sleepy Brown, Big Rube, Scar, Joi Killiam, Khujo Goodie, Janelle Monae), run April 10-13, and, according to the Billboard story, “interweave new and unreleased music from Big Boi with Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘La Traviata.’” It will, of course, be impossible to distinguish between Big Boi’s and Verdi’s contributions to the score. [Billboard]

]]> 1 http://idolator.com/357604/andre-3000-to-finally-bring-19th-century-anglophilia-to-hip-hop http://idolator.com/357604/andre-3000-to-finally-bring-19th-century-anglophilia-to-hip-hop#comments Mon, 18 Feb 2008 04:35:49 +0000 Jess Harvell http://1584a96503430a570abf1bd64440701d

Since he couldn't possibly fill all of that OutKast downtime with guest verses and Hollywood turns, the man born Andre Benjamin, who then branded himself Andre 3000 and who's now once again Andre Benjamin, has also spent the last few months exploring the world of fancy frocks, hoping to allow the common man (with a little dough) to borrow some of his infamous mix-and-match sartorial style. The rapper-turned-clothier currently plans for an autumn debut for his upscale fashion imprint--think more high-end department store than the place you pick up your remaindered G-Unit apparel--Benjamin Bixby. The line is so named not for the man who was once the Incredible Hulk, but because...well, probably because it sounded like a jolly Dickens urchin. And if your closet is full of throwbacks and manpris, but light on cravats and waistcoats, then it just might be for you.

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Since he couldn’t possibly fill all of that OutKast downtime with guest verses and Hollywood turns, the man born Andre Benjamin, who then branded himself Andre 3000 and who’s now once again Andre Benjamin, has also spent the last few months exploring the world of fancy frocks, hoping to allow the common man (with a little dough) to borrow some of his infamous mix-and-match sartorial style. The rapper-turned-clothier currently plans for an autumn debut for his upscale fashion imprint–think more high-end department store than the place you pick up your remaindered G-Unit apparel–Benjamin Bixby. The line is so named not for the man who was once the Incredible Hulk, but because…well, probably because it sounded like a jolly Dickens urchin. And if your closet is full of throwbacks and manpris, but light on cravats and waistcoats, then it just might be for you.

That mix of application and instinct carries over to his personal style. It takes a certain serenity to rock the resplendent Bixby outfit he recently wore to a Fashion Week party: wide-brimmed fedora, green waistcoat, buttery brown leather riding boots (“vintage”) that pushed his pants up, jodhpur style. He looked more like a wealthy, eccentric caballero than a thirties jock toff, but then, he wants the line to tell stories. Benjamin Bixby, he says, “is a character who’s kind of like your uncle, or your granddad, and he has a closet full of experiences and clothes, and he’s been around the world…”

Tearing pages out of magazines as a kid left Benjamin with a reverence for English style: He fetishizes “timeless” clothes, name-checks old-school brands like Turnbull & Asser, and calls his own style “classic spontaneity” or “rebel gentleman.” What this means, in effect, is doing a little remix. Here, he’s wearing a Façonnable shirt with Polo khakis and a tie from his new line worn as a belt. “There has to be something inventive about it,” he says. “But not so inventive that it’s a turnoff. So that some of the greats, like Beau Brummell or the Duke of Windsor, would nod and say, ‘Well done.’ Those guys killed it.” Now, that’s hip-hop.

Considering the good Mr. Brummell infamously “claimed to polish his boots with champagne,” that might not be so wide of the mark as haters might think. Not even hip-hop’s most ball-’til-they-fall spendthrifts have suggested scrubbing a pair of kicks fresh and clean using Cristal. That we know of, anyway.

Andre Benjamin Launches New Clothing Line, Benjamin Bixby [New York Magazine]

]]> 3 http://idolator.com/338406/no-5-we-choose-ugk-and-outkast http://idolator.com/338406/no-5-we-choose-ugk-and-outkast#comments Fri, 28 Dec 2007 05:00:29 +0000 jharv http://d0dd7be3dec7944c6030a6c847b26923

And for a few minutes, let's all bask in four thirtysomethings showing those soulja boys and girls how it's done.

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And for a few minutes, let’s all bask in four thirtysomethings showing those soulja boys and girls how it’s done.

Frankly, I’m tempted to just post a bunch of animated arrows pointing to the clip above and leave the writeup at “WATCH THAT!!” But though the “International Players Anthem” video was so best that it even managed a couple plays on cable TV, this miniature domestic dramedy is a straight-up bonus, part of a full audio-video package in an era when “MTV doesn’t even play videos anymore!” barely rates as a punchline, as well as a reprieve from the p-poppin’ parade of pole-dancers set to the iTunes hot ringtone chart. As for the soundtrack that outshines the film? True, you can’t (and shouldn’t) ignore the thrifty Three 6 Mafia re-recycled backing track; my sister echoed many this year when she said could barely hear past the luminiosity of that Willie Hutch sample to the four gents talking over (underneath?) it. But there’s also meter-flaunting Andre 3000 playing (with) the rhythmic angles–”lit-tra-chure” and “chi-ro-prac-tick” being points where he’s just showin off how far he can stray for the hell of it, infurating some and charming others–over a beat-less intro that’s barely a net, the boldest and funniest in his recent breadcrumb trail of guest verses, where “not a pimp” Dre still sheds a sly tear over all those moistened drawers of the past during the year’s sweetest pledge of fidelity to not only lovers and friends but extended family and the partner that we all suspected had strained under so much sideways break-up gossip. Outkast veneration aside, let us not forget that first-billing does truly belongs to two of the best to ever have their cell phone bills sent to addresses below the Mason-Dixon, with the final stretch of Bun B’s verse the year’s best “just try and follow along with the bouncing ball” moment. And when Andre suddenly cedes the spotlight to the rhythm track, it’s no R.I.P. revisionism to say that Pimp C’s chest-out entrance would distract from any drums. His like-it-rough-and-preferrably-strings-free definition of romance may not square with yours–personally, I lean closer to Andre’s kilts and corny email gags–but he sure as hell sells it, another part that you can’t imagine the hip-hop whole of the year working as well without.

UGK feat. Outkast – “International Players Anthem” [YouTube]
UGK [MySpace]
Idolator’s 2007 Top 40 List Of Awesomeness

]]> 2 http://idolator.com/256731/axl-roses-hit-list-for-get-in-the-ring-07-keeps-growing http://idolator.com/256731/axl-roses-hit-list-for-get-in-the-ring-07-keeps-growing#comments Tue, 01 May 2007 06:10:39 +0000 Maura http://68372c4c4bc2a707affe103918c486df
- Guns N' Roses owes a New Jersey production company about $100,000 for transportation and touring services. Axl promises to pay the bill "as soon as he gets royalties from Chinese Democracy." [TMZ] - OutKast's Big Boi will partner with the Atlanta Ballet for a series of performances in 2008. More »]]>

- Guns N’ Roses owes a New Jersey production company about $100,000 for transportation and touring services. Axl promises to pay the bill “as soon as he gets royalties from Chinese Democracy.” [TMZ]
- OutKast’s Big Boi will partner with the Atlanta Ballet for a series of performances in 2008. Get ready for “The Rooster” to be included on the music roster. [HHNLive.com]
- Courtney Love is selling Kurt Cobain’s belongings for “charity”; proceeds to go to the Get Courtney Love Some Positive Press For Once Fund. [Spinner.com]

]]> 0 http://idolator.com/224444/stuck-at-eleven-outkast-become-outcasts http://idolator.com/224444/stuck-at-eleven-outkast-become-outcasts#comments Wed, 27 Dec 2006 03:51:34 +0000 Brian Raftery http://e98e0ae88da40bc1a8d6d890db2e485e
Compiling a year-end Top 10 list means making plenty of painful nips, tucks, and tweaks. So, through the end of 2006, we present "Stuck At Eleven," a daily look at the songs that came thisclose to making our year-end lists' final cut. More »]]>

Compiling a year-end Top 10 list means making plenty of painful nips, tucks, and tweaks. So, through the end of 2006, we present “Stuck At Eleven,” a daily look at the songs that came thisclose to making our year-end lists’ final cut.

Clocking in at 25 songs and 78 minutes, Outkast’s Idlewild was a chore to wade through; Lord only knows why no one at the label (or in the group) realized that the thing needed to be pared down by a good half-hour or so. But those listeners who were patient enough to let the album simmer for a bit were treated to a handful of solid tracks (“The Train,” “N2U”) and at least one great single with “Morris Brown,” which combines a marching-band beat with vocals by Sleepy Brown and Scar. It’s not “Hey Ya!” part two, but the whirling chorus deserves a bigger audience.

Outkast feat. Sleepy Brown and Scar – Morris Brown [MP3, link expired]

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