Big Boi

by itemvn  |  November 04, 2007 [Edit]

Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer, actor, and one half of the alternative hip hop duo Outkast.

Patton was born and spent the first half of his childhood in Savannah, Georgia, attending school before moving to Atlanta with his Aunt Renee to pursue his interest in music at Tri-Cities High School, a Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School.

After four increasingly successful albums as a duo, Benjamin decided to make a solo album as a side project (even though Big Boi was on some of The Love Below as Andre 3000 was on some songs in Speakerboxxx). Patton also produced a solo effort, and the two albums were packaged together as Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2003. Speakerboxxx featured a style similar to Outkast's previous efforts, while The Love Below explored more offbeat territory. One song from each album was released in September 2003 as a single.

Big Boi recently announced a solo album in the works, titled Sir Luscious Left Foot, will be released in 2010. Purportedly similar in sound to Speakerboxxx, it will feature production from André and longtime Dungeon Family production team Organized Noize.

Patton's choice was the single "The Way You Move", featuring Sleepy Brown. It was originally supported by urban radio, but then crossed over to pop charts and became almost as big a pop hit as Benjamin's "Hey Ya!". "The Way You Move" supplanted "Hey Ya!" as the #1 song on the US pop charts. The second single from Big Boi's side of the album was "Ghetto Musick", which featured both members of Outkast and a sample from Patti LaBelle's "Love, Need & Want You".