Congratulations! Legendary Atlanta rap duo OutKast was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Saturday night (November 8) at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Since 2019, the duo have been eligible for the big honor. Leading the tribute for group members André Lauren “André 3000” Benjamin and Antwan André “Big Boi” Patton was Donald Glover (whose rap moniker is Childish Gambino) — who grew up listening to the group in Atlanta before infusing their influence into his own work.
While speaking about the legendary group and mentioning his hit show ‘Atlanta,’ Glover told the crowd:
“Big Boi and André, I want to personally, thank you. Around the time Speakerboxxx/The Love Below came out, I wrote a letter from college to my brother, and I said, ‘I had a dream that we wrote a show together.’ Thank you for showing me that brothers may not always see eye to eye and their philosophies or styles, but they need each other in a world that would rather see them both fail together. … Atlanta is not the music Mecca it has become without you. There is no Childish Gambino without you. There is no South without you.”
During their acceptance speech, André said:
“A lot of times it’s a lot more than just the notes or the instruments that you playing. It’s everybody that’s around you. It’s the family, and this is my family. It’s the wives, it’s the girlfriends, it’s the girl you broke up with that pissed you off and made you write a song. All of that is important … It has a lot to do with the bands that were out at the same time that influenced us, all the rappers that were out, from Busta Rhymes to Missy [Elliott] to Nas to Wu-Tang [Clan] and then even before, we got Kilo [Ali], we got Raheem the Dream. We were watching dancers in Atlanta. Those were our heroes growing up.”
Fighting through tears, André continued, “Man, he’s one of my favorites. Man, we love you … He said something about little rooms, and we started… Great things start in little rooms.”
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After a teary acceptance speech from André, Doja Cat, J.I.D., Tyler, the Creator, Janelle Monáe, plus Killer Mike and Sleepy Brown (making it a Dungeon Family reunion) joined Big Boi (minus André) on stage to perform a medley of OutKast’s classic hits.
Following André’s speech, Big Boi and J.I.D. performed “ATLiens.” Doja sang “Ms. Jackson,” before Tyler burst onto the stage to perform “B.O.B.” Then, Janelle fittingly and theatrically performed “Hey Ya!,” before “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” began to play. Big Boi then linked with Sleepy for their hit collaboration, “The Way You Move.” For the final track, Mike joined Doja, J.I.D., Tyler, Sleepy, Janelle, and Big Boi for “The Whole World.”
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