A hip hop pioneer with Outkast, the demented pop brain of Andre Benjamin – known to many as Andre 3000 – is set to release his debut solo album next year, it is reported.
Formed with Anton “Big Boi” Patton, Outkast have been one of the biggest and certainly most creative hip hop acts to have emerged in the past fifteen years. Their hits such as “Miss Jackson” and “Hey Ya” acted as landmark chart events, redefining what a hop hop group were capable of.
Andre Benjamin is now taking time off the group to pursue his acting career, and stars in the forthcoming “Battle Of Seattle” – which documents the riots that surrounded a meeting by the World Trade Organization in 1999. Strangely, Benjamin stars as a turtle – his activist is dressed as a turtle when the riots break out and he remains in this garb for the duration.
In addition to this the star has also found time to record a solo album. According to a recent interview “it should be dropping by the end of this year or early next year. I’ve pretty much been working with myself,” he explained before revealing “I’ve never really been that big on collaboration.”
Outkast famously released an album titled “Speakerboxx / The Love Below” which split material between Andre and Big Boi over two discs.
“Battle In Seattle” is released later this year. There is no release date for the Andre Benjamin album.
