Hey Ya: Atlanta’s Outkast now has the best-selling rap album of all time
Andre “Andre 3000″ Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, better known as the legendary hip-hop duo OutKast, now hold a new title: “best-selling rap album of all time.”
Big Boi posted on Instagram that “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” with 13 million units sold, overtook Eminem’s “The Eminem Show,” which was released in 2002.
“Outchea like the air you breathe. @outkast is EVERLASTING. 🛸 Blessed and Highly Favored . Praise YahWeh,” he wrote
“What always distinguished Outkast was their creativity. Andre 3000 and Big Boi were never content to merely trot out a plodding beat and yell about women and sex. Instead, their goal was to excel at soulful, meaningful, jazz-and-funk-tinged hip-hop,” Melissa Ruggieri wrote for The AJC in 2019.
“Speakerboxx/The Love Below” was released on Sept. 23, 2003, and was the first hip-hop CD to win the Grammy’s top prize, album of the year.
Big Boi’s “Speakerboxxx” half of the album includes the hit “The Way You Move” and 18 other songs, while Andre 3000′s “The Love Below” includes “Hey Ya!” which Rolling Stone named the 10th greatest song of all-time.
50 Years of Hip-Hop: Celebrating Atlanta’s influence
This year marks the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. Read our coverage on how Atlanta impacted the genre:
AJC Film: “The South Got Something To Say,” a new feature documentary from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution chronicles the rise of Atlanta hip-hop and its journey to dominance. Watch the film at ajc.com/hiphop, where it is streaming for a limited time.
Learn more about the film’s backstory: AJC hip-hop doc chronicles evolution of Atlanta’s cultural dominance
Read the oral history of ‘the South got something to say’ by Ernie Suggs and DeAsia Paige, tracing the lasting effects from André 3000′s famous declaration at the 1995 Source Awards
Take a look at our list of the 50 greatest Atlanta hip-hop hitmakers and our round-up of the 50 songs that define Atlanta hip-hop. By a passionate crew of hip-hop fans at the AJC.
How exactly did Atlanta become the nation’s rap capital? Here’s a brief history of Atlanta’s rise in hip-hop. By Najja Parker.
Remember Atlanta pioneers Silk Tymes Leather? One member of the female rap group doesn’t want people to forget their legacy. By DeAsia Paige.
Read more of our coverage on how Atlanta influenced hip-hop.
About the Author
Nancy Clanton is a lead producer for The AJC's platforms team, but also writes stories about health, travel, events and entertainment. A native of Knoxville and graduate of the University of Tennessee, she has worked at the AJC for 24 years.
