When Eminem mentioned Andre 3000 of Outkast in his “list” of best rappers in the song “Till I Collapse,” it sent the southern rapper up the charts. Truth be told, however, Outkast, comprised of Andre 3000 and Big Boi, were already great.
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The group is a fixture in Atlanta and has gone on to garner awards, hit songs (like “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson), and much more. But with all that to their credit, one might wonder what Andre 3000, who has also earned attention for his acting, has to say outside of his music about the world, love, life, his craft, and much more.
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Here are the 11 best Andre 3000 quotes.
1. “I’ve learned that I’m most powerful when I’m doing my art.”
2. “You look in the mirror every day and you see the same thing. As an entertainer, you wanna see something new.”
3. “It’s harder to be a success, globally, and be artistic. Harder to have that balance than just to be artistic when nobody understands you.”
4. “I rarely drink, I don’t smoke, so my vice is probably creating. I’m addicted to creating. And women.”
5. “When the OutKast sound changed and I started producing my own records, I would mirror what I thought that character doing that music would look like. As the sound got a little wilder, freakier, and funkier, so did the clothes. Then when the sound got more sophisticated, the clothes changed again.”
6. “Hip-hop don’t have no fresh energy, none at all. It’s money driven, everybody tryin’ to make that check, nobody putting art in their albums anymore.”
7. “Australia is about as far away as you can get. I like that.”
8. “When I’m shooting a film, I don’t look at playback. I don’t go and do a scene and then hurry up and watch what I just did. I never look at it so I haven’t seen any of it.”
9. “Look at Scottish guys wearing kilts—you could look at them and laugh, but the way they carry themselves, how can you? You can wear some of the weirdest things and be cool. If you believe in it, that’s what makes it cool.”
10. “I think a lot of African-American kids don’t have fathers to teach them how to dress, so you end up being taught by pictures in magazines and movies. You see cowboys, Indians, old Hollywood films, and Cary Grant. It has an effect on you.”
11. “I think it’s real important to show style now. The majority of style right now is to act like you don’t have style at all, so most companies are getting rich off clothes that look torn, clothes that look worn.”
Photo by Paul R. Giunta/FilmMagic
