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André 3000

André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975) better known by his stage name André 3000, is an American rapper-singer, multi-instrumentalist, and actor, best known for his work in the group OutKast.

Biography

Early life

Benjamin was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Sharon Benjamin Hodo, a single mother who sold real estate, and Lawrence Walker, a collections agent. Being an only child and growing up in East Point, Decatur and Buckhead, Benjamin saw many different lifestyles (clothing and music) that he combined throughout his career. He attended Sutton Middle School,and (Tri-Cities High School) where an orchestra teacher named Mrs. Natalie Colbert taught him how to play the violin.

Career

In high school, Benjamin (who was then performing as "Dre") met Antwan "Big Boi" Patton and after a few lyrical battles the two teamed up to form Outkast. Shortly after graduating high school the duo were signed to the Atlanta-based LaFace label and released their debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik in 1994. Buoyed by the success of the single "Playa's Ball", the album went platinum by the end of the year and Outkast was named Best New Rap Group of the Year at the 1995 Source Awards.

On their next two albums ATLiens and Aquemini, Outkast experimented with their sound by adding elements of trip-hop, soul, and jungle. Benjamin's lyrics in particular took on a more surreal, space-age tinge. At this time Benjamin took up the guitar and painting and became involved with neo-soul singer Erykah Badu.

Outkast's fourth album, Stankonia, saw Benjamin take on the new name of Andre 3000 (largely to distinguish himself from Dr. Dre) and increased the group's crossover appeal with the single Ms. Jackson, which hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was written in the aftermath of Benjamin's breakup with Badu and was a fictionalized account of the disintegration of their relationship.

In 2001, Outkast released a greatest hits album Big Boi and Dre Present... OutKast which contained three new tracks. One track, The Whole World won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Later that year, Benjamin participated in the Dungeon Family group album, which saw a number of prominent Atlanta-based hip-hop groups combine into a supergroup.

In 2003, Outkast released Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, a double album which highlighted the differences in the musical styles of the group's two members. André's half of the album, The Love Below, garnered the most attention from mainstream audiences, with the popular singles "Hey Ya!" and "Roses". The album's fourth single and video (Andre's third), "Prototype", was released shortly after, where as Big Boi's Speakerboxxx has seen the release of the hit "The Way You Move" and most recent single "Ghetto Musick." The Love Below was, unlike Speakerboxxx, an exercise in funk, jazz, and alternative music, featuring mostly sung (instead of rapped) vocals from André.

André has moved into the film world and has made appearances in Families, The Shield, Be Cool, Revolver (2005), and a co-starring role in Four Brothers. Andre is also cast as Percival in Idlewild, released on August 26, 2006. He is currently shooting a movie with Big Boi for HBO. He is also currently working on an as-of-yet untitled project, filming on location in Louisiana and is being produced by Chesley Seals and Kat Hantas. He voiced a crow in Charlotte's Web, a movie adaptation of the 1952 children's book. As of November 2006, he voices "Sunny Bridges," a prize-winning musician who gives up touring to teach at his alma mater, in a new animated series he produced on Cartoon Network called Class of 3000. He has also worked with Esthero on a promotional version of "Jungle Book" which was on a Wikked lil' grrrls sampler, but never made it to the actual album due to issues with Esthero's publisher, Warner Bros.. He launched the "Benjamin Bixby" clothing line in spring of 2008, inspired by college football, circa 1935.

He returned to rapping in 2007 after a long hiatus, appearing on many various remixes including "Walk It Out," "Throw Some D's," "You," Jay-Z's "30 Something," and a few original songs such as UGK's 'International Players Anthem', Devin the Dude's "What A Job", Fonzworth Bentley's Everybody and John Legend's 'Green Light'. He also recently appeared on Big Boi's single Royal Flush.

Benjamin has recently stated that he is making a solo rap album, and that the response to his remixes is part of the motivation. In the same interview, he stated that he wanted to write a verse for a remix to "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston, nothing ever came of the remix.

John Legend is preparing for his third studio album "Evolver", which is scheduled for a October 28, 2008 release[6]. Rapper Andre 3000 of OutKast is featured on the first single of the album on a song titled "Green Light". "It's going to be a surprise for a lot of John Legend fans, because it is a lot more upbeat than John is — than people think John is," Andre insisted. "I was actually happy to hear it. This is a cool John Legend song."[7]

Film career

Benjamin has also ventured into acting in recent years, starring in films Be Cool with Cedric the Entertainer, Four Brothers with Tyrese Gibson, Idlewild and the Guy Richie film Revolver. Andre also did a voice over for the classic cartoon Charlotte's Web.

In November 2006, Benjamin released his project Class of 3000 on Cartoon Network along with his own production company "Moxie Turtle" on each episode there is a moral and a song produced by Benjamin himself. The following year, in February of 2007, Andre started practicing for the basketball comedy Semi-Pro, in which he appeared with Woody Harrelson and Will Ferrell. He also starred in the 2008 film Battle in Seattle, a film about the 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization protests.

Personal life

Benjamin is a strict vegetarian. In 2004, alongside Alicia Silverstone, André was voted by PETA to be the 'World's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity.' He also has a son with ex partner Erykah Badu named Seven Sirius Benjamin. He is also childhood friends with Fonzworth Bentley.

Politics and endorsements

André posed for a bondage-themed print advertising campaign by Declare Yourself, a campaign encouraging voter registration among youth for the 2008 United States presidential election. In the ads by photographer David LaChapelle, André has his mouth gagged by a bow-tie in a symbolic function. The ads drew national attention.

Aliases

André has several aliases:

• "Cupid Valentino" (from the song "Happy Valentine's Day")
• "Dre" (his original moniker)
• "Ice Cold"
• "Possum Aloysius Jenkins"
• "Dookie (Blossumgame III)"
• The reversed, "Benjamin André"
• "Love Pusher"
• "Binhamin" (From the insert of ATLiens)(also shared by Producer Quebo Kuntry, whose real name is James Benjamin)
• "Johnny Vulture" (for example on Gwen Stefani's album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. which he produced and also appeared on the track "Bubble Pop Electric")
• "Funk Crusader"
• "Chamelio Salamander" (From the Sleepy Brown "I Can't Wait" music video)
• "3 Stacks"
• "Sunny Bridges" (Class of 3000)

Most of these names appear in the "Hey Ya" music video, where he and his doubles all have different names ("Johnny Vulture", "Dookie", "André (Ice Cold) 3000", "Possum Jenkins" and "Benjamin André"). Also, when asked his name by a phony police officer on Punk'd he calls himself Bill Bixby.

There is also an interlude track on the Outkast CD Stankonia, called D.F. (Interlude), where both Andre 3000 and Big Boi list many of their numerous aliases.

Filmography

• Hollywood Homicide (2003), Silk Brown
• Be Cool (2005), Dabu
• Four Brothers (2005), Jeremiah Mercer
• L.A. Rush (2005) – voice
• Volcano High (2005), Kim Yung Soo – voice
• Revolver (2005), Avi
• Idlewild (2006), Percival
• Charlotte's Web (2006), Elwyn the Crow – voice
• Semi-Pro (2007), Clarence 'Coffee Black' Malone
• Battle in Seattle (2008), Django

External links

• André 3000 at IMDb
• André 3000 at AllMovie
• I'll give son a gun - Andre 3000
• Andre's gun revelation
• André Benjamin: Outkast to Typecast (MPM interview)
• Everything-Outkast
• Andre 3000 at Complex Magazine