Big Boi

Fans of Atlanta-based hip-hop legends Outkast were sent into a frenzy today after rapper Gucci Mane mentioned that he had recorded music with the duo, teasing the possibility of the first new music from the band in a decade.

The 36 year old star Gucci Mane, who was released from prison in May this year and hails from Atlanta too, mentioned in a Snapchat on Tuesday (September 6th) “I just did a record for Outkast”… alongside with a whole host of other names including Lil Wayne.

Outkast performing on their ATLiens reunion tour in 2014

Continue reading: Has Gucci Mane Revealed The First Outkast Music In A Decade?

Big Boi has landed his very own record deal with Epic Records, where he'll have the chance to work with his mentor L.A. Reid once again. The rapper, better known as one half of the hip hop duo Outkast, was previously signed to Def Jam and, under Reid's guidance, he released Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors.

Big Boi Has Announced That He Has Signed To Epic Records.

The 39 year-old confirmed the news to Huffington Post, revealing "I'm back with [Antonio] L.A Reid and Sylvia Rhone," and adding "Got a brand new situation."

Continue reading: Big Boi Lands Solo Deal: Bad News For Outkast?

Outkast returned home to Georgia for their stint at CounterPoint Festival 2014 - and fans were a lot more pleased this time round than they were at their comeback gig at Coachella.

Nothing was going to spoil the mood at this year's CounterPoint Festival. With a line-up headlined by one of the world's favourite veteran hip hop duos and also featuring Pretty Lights, Foster The People and STS9, not even the ferocious storm that swept the venue over the weekend engulfing festival goers in streams of mud was going to ruin the experience for anyone. 

Continue reading: Outkast Were Back In Georgia For CounterPoint Festival 2014, With A Few Special Guests

It’s official – HBO has the best promotional strategy. Not that the fourth season of Game of Thrones needed any more hype, but it’s getting heaps of it with a new hip hop mixtape. Dragons, kings, ice creature zombie... things – hip hop should fit right in there, right? The new mixtape is intended to help fans catch up on the fantasy series ahead of Season 4 and is called Catch the Throne, because... well, you know.

Turns out, Common is big on hip hop.

But wait, there’s more! Because HBO wouldn’t just bank on some third rate rappers to get the job done, the mixtape features the likes of Common, Wale, Big Boi and DADDY YANKEE (always pegged him for a GoT fan). It also shines the spotlight on some fresh talent like Bodega Bamz and Show Tha Product. Each rapper had a chance to spit fire (pun intended) about the show’s big theme – the struggle for power. It makes perfect sense, according to Common.

Continue reading: Common, Wale And Co. Releasing"Game Of Thrones" Mixtape For All Your Catching Up Needs

It doesn’t seem right to be talking about the international headliners set to grace sun-drenched climes of Coachella 2014, not when January still plagues us so. But with Andre 3000 and Big Boi set to make a return as Outkast, there isn’t a lot else to talk about.

Andre 3000 and Big Boi are working together again

It’s confirmed: Outkast will be headlining the festival alongside Muse and Arcade fire in a line-up stellar enough to rival the world famous Glastonbury, which is also set to be headlined by the recently returned Reflektors.

Continue reading: Coachella Line-up Sees Outkast Return Alongside Muse And Arcade Fire

Big Boi, the rapper who first found international fame and acclaim with the hip-hop group Outkast, has agreed to appear on the upcoming season of Celebrity Big Brother. The Sun first reported that the rapper will be heading to the UK for a stay at the infamous household, with the new season of the show due to air on Channel 5 later this year, or potentially by the start of 2014. Channel 5 have refused to comment on exactly when the show is due to return.

The rapper has had moderate solo success over the past three years

The rapper has achieved a considerable amount of solo success since OutKast split/went on hiatus, releasing his critically applauded first solo album, Sir Lucious Left Foot the Son of Chico Dusty, in 2010 and the poorly received follow-up, Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumours, in 2012. In spite of this success and the fact that he has remained relevant since his OutKast days, the hip-hop star will be joining such washed up celebrities as Loose Women presenter Carol McGiffin, ex-football manager and known racist Ron Atkinson and Abz from the recently reunited boyband 5ive. Big Boi's appearance on the show isn't the first from a rapper either, as 'Gangsta's Paradise' rapper Coolio was the last rapper to appear on the show in 2009, with Maggot from UK parody hip-hop group Goldie Looking Chain coming in third place in 2006.

Continue reading: OutKast Rapper Agrees On Fee To Join Celebrity Big Brother House

Albums of Note... David Bowie’s return to the shelves of our local record shops (well, the few that still exist) has been met with a grateful and adulatory fanfare, across the board and it’s been no different here at Contactmusic. Having run out of contemporary influences upon which to draw, Bowie took the old adage that pop will eat itself and made an album to fit. On The Next Day, Bowie largely references himself and his own body of work, recalling his Berlin days, as well as providing an extension of the tracks he released in the nineties.“Assessing how The Next Day sits alongside anything else he's done is irrelevant; an artist who has gone through as many character changes, taken on as many styles and moved through as many eras as he has defies such lazy list making. What can be said is that it is, at this point in time, at this point in his life and career, probably as good a record that David Bowie could've possibly come up with.”

Some of the mystery of Rhye’s cloaked existence has been unveiled and the band’s two components have been revealed as Toronto born producer Mike Milosh and Robin Hannibal of Quadron. They draw comparisons to The XX, partly thanks for Milosh’s falsetto, which led many to believe that it was a woman on vocals. Possibly part of the reason they choose to entitle the album Woman...? “'Woman' is a chilled, tranquil listen but not a boring album by any means. The duo creates songs that fill with distant, mysterious moods. But, it still feels like an intimate album piled high with textured layers.”

Continue reading: A Week In Music - Bowie's 'The Next Day' Album Was Worth The Wait, Sigur Ros Back At Their Spectacular Best, Everything Everything Take Another Step Into The Mainstream With 'Duet'

The Outkast rapper Big Boi has both worked with the creme-de-la-creme of hip hop and pop, but now he is spreading his wings in the medium of... video games. 

Big Boi has already appeared as a playable character in one game, Def Jam: Icon. This was, as I'm sure you can tell by the name, a hip hop inspired game, so it wasn't exactly far removed from Big Boi's comfort zone. This time around though, he and pal B.o.B. have collaborated both in and outside the game, reports E! 

The pair have recorded the official theme song for the game 'Double Or Nothing' (in-keeping with that 'two' theme of the game title.) But they will also be appearing in the game, as characters that will help out the players: "operatives Charles 'Chuy' (pronounced "Chewy") Rendall and Anthony 'Baker' Barnes." The task for players being to "[take] down one of Mexico's most dangerous drug cartels." 

Continue reading: Big Boi And B.O.B To Appear In Army Of Two: The Devil's Cartel In Song And Character

Andre 3000 has no plans to release a solo album despite former Outkast buddy Big Boi working on his own new project.

The former duo member admits he has toyed with several music ideas but isn't dead set on releasing a solo debut any time soon. 'Things are kind of up in the air with me, and some days, I feel like yeah, I'll do it. Some days, I feel like, I don't', he told RollingStone.com. 'I record and I write ideas. I think I'll always do that... But I don't know if it will go to another artist or will it be my stuff or will it go to some movie? I don't know.' Three Stacks seems to have been happy to take a backseat in the music world in recent years, occasionally making guest appearances on other artists' tracks such as 'Party' by Beyonce, B.o.B's 'Play the Guitar' and, more recently, T.I.'s 'Sorry'. 'My whole motivation is, I don't want to mess these people's songs up, more than anything than let me do something great', he said on the subject. 

His OutKast partner Big Boi, however, is now promoting his new solo album 'Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors' but admits that Andre hasn't made a guest appearance on that project despite rumours, joking that he's too busy shooting commercials for Gillette hair trimmers. 3K wasn't even aware that there were rumors of a reunion. 'I don't read the Internet. I've never had a Twitter, I've never had a Facebook', he insisted. 'None of that kind of stuff, because it makes me mad to read it sometimes. I just don't. I don't hear all the rumors.'