Between 1994 and 2006, the duo of Andre 3000 and Big Boi known as Outkast released six albums, all of which made the R&B top two and five of which did the same on the Billboard 200.
Their last regular studio album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was a hip-hop tour de force giving them number 1 singles with Hey Ya! and The Way You Move along with another top ten on Roses, but they would only release one more album, the soundtrack to Idlewild, before Big Boi started recording solo and Andre 3000 went on to both recording and acting work.
Recently, Andre talked with Complex magazine where he said that he was totally fine with never recording another Outkast album.
As I get older, I start to see myself move more back from it—the hustle and bustle of putting out an album, the pressure of being in the studio trying to come up with something. Now it’s more like a hobby for me, so I don’t think about it in that way. Even with Outkast — if we never do another album, I’m totally fine with that. When I was 25, I said I don’t want to be a 30-year-old rapper. I’m 42 now, and I feel more and more that way. Do I really want to be 50 years old up there doing that? When I watch other rappers that are my age I commend them, but I just wonder where the inspiration is coming from. At this stage I’m really more focused on what I am going to be doing 10 years from now. And I hope to God it won’t be rapping.
