'There's a lot of quote-unquote hip-hop acts today, they stick to beats and rhymes, and we really like to experiment and play with a lot of different elements of the music,' said Big Boi. Both rappers say they've grown weary of a scene they believe has lost its edge. While the discs are wildly different, if they do share anything, it's how much they stand out from the hip-hop currently on the radio. We've got both sides of the fence right now.' 'We knew that when we did it, one song was going to go one way and the other song was going to go the other way. 'We're selling the same album, you know what I'm saying?' Big Boi said.

Big Boi's took off first, but Andre's Beatlesque 'Hey Ya!' became the eventual champ, becoming the most omnipresent song on radio. They ventured so far as to release dueling singles.

'We'll always love each other, but I think we need to venture right now,' said Andre, who compared the current state of their relationship to siblings leaving the nest. 'We're just both kind of getting older, finding new interests and new things that excite us in different ways.' Releasing two solo records fueled that speculation, which had the pair laughing. So the pair decided to simply put out two solo discs as one double OutKast album.ДЄlthough Andre and Big Boi have been friends since high school, they are so different - Big Boi's image is straight-up hip-hop versus Andre's ultra-eclectic persona - that breakup rumors have hounded them since their 1994 debut. It was so much going on in the last couple of years, I just wanted to put the brakes on everything, slow down.'ДЄt the same time, Big Boi was working on his own solo project as well as the OutKast disc, which Andre had helped to map out. 'It sounded real cool and blue It didn't sound hot, excited, urgent and loud, and I think 'Stankonia' is that. 'It was soothing to me, and the music of jazz sounded like where I wanted to be in my life at the time,' he said. But Andre (Andre Benjamin), focusing on acting, was creating music for a film project that ended up evaporating.ДЄndre was left with several songs completely atypical even for OutKast: jazzy slow grooves about relationships that featured Andre crooning, not rapping.ДЄndre says the music - which he dubs 'sophistifunk' - reflected his mellow mood, a marked departure from the frenetic, flamboyant character he had morphed into over the years. Coming off their last studio album, 2000's Grammy-winning 'Stankonia,' Big Boi (Antoine Patton) started working on the next disc.

It's cool to see OutKast fans willing to go on this adventure with us, this musical adventure.' 'So I guess with this one here, being that the songs are from every corner of music, every genre's covered all the way through, it spread a little faster. 'With every album, we tend to gain new fans here and there,' says Big Boi. OutKast is favored to win album of the year at Sunday's Grammy ceremony in Los Angeles. 1 'Hey Ya!' from Andre and 'I Like The Way You Move' from counterpart Big Boi) and netted six Grammy nominations. The double album has sold more than 3.5 million copies since its September release, spawned the nation's top two singles (the No.

Outkast stankonia photoshoot