Dre Talks OutKast Projects
As The Stank Love tour rolls across America, OutKast are paving the way to the next level of funk. Sales of their most progressive album to date, Stankonia, have crossed the triple platinum mark and the Atlanta duo are busy deciding how best to use the stash of songs they couldn’t squeeze onto the album.
“The CD was too short,” says André 3000. “We couldn’t fit all of it on there. And we also didn’t want the experience to be too long.” André and his partner in rhyme, Big Boi, have been tossing around the idea of a double album ever since the Stankonia sessions, but they haven’t yet come to a final decision.
“We’re thinking of it,” Dré says. “One side of it would be Big Boi and one side of it would be myself. And there will be four or five songs we do together, you know. We’ve been recording and all, but we don’t know what to do. We thought a double album would be pretty cool. Right now we’re getting feedback on the idea and people are diggin’ it.”
OutKast worked with live musicians and back-up singers on much of Stankonia and at the time Dré toyed with the idea of doing a Sly and the Family Stone style funk project on the side, but that may not happen for a while. “Nah,” he says. “Everybody jumping on the band wagon, like I like to say now. OutKast is never going to tour with a total band either. A lot of hip-hop artists are doing the band thing, all on the band wagon. We want to keep the beats bumpin’ along with some live instrumentation. It’s the best of both worlds that way.”
In other OutKast news, their clothing line will launch in the fall. “It’s going to be top of the line urban wear,” Dré says. “High end type stuff.” And no world domination is complete without a feature film. “Yeah, we’re going to do a film,” Dré says. “We’re working on the script right now. But I can’t tell you about it. Just look out for it, okay? Cooly-cool.”