I was listening to Aquemini the other day and wondering if there are fans of OutKast who like Big Boi more than Andre. Then that question expanded to include any groups that consisted of a duo with one of the two being the star. eg. Tribe, Black Star, Public Enemy, NWA

Like do folks who are PE fans really like Flav over Chuck? I can kinda see that some might like Kweli more than Mos, but I'm just not one of them. And while it took for OutKast to break up to realize how important Big Boi was to their success, I'd be lying if I thought more of him than Andre.

What about you?

The band got famous off Travis Morrison's rich and elemental examinations of college rock-addled white malaise and rightfully so, but what really keeps their two prime LPs listenable umpteen years later is the interplay between Eric Axelson's bass and Joe Easley's drums.


I have the same thing with Interpol's first two albums.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

who managed to become more "famous" than the actual leader of the group

I was expecting to see Vinnie from Naughty, Freaky Tah, people like that.

...I often wonder if they know which one is Big Boi and which one is Andre.

I guess I looked at OutKast like I did Tribe. There was one MC who was the best and the other that grounded the group but also didn't meet my tastes like the other.

But I never did a lot of reading into OutKast's behind the scenes where Big Boi played a larger role. So, again sorry for how I worded my original post.

...if Big Boi WAS a sidekick, OutKast wouldn't be Outkast.
They're considered the greatest BECAUSE there are no weak links.
Both of them are amazing MC's, and it's rare to see that in a hip hop group.

I misworded my original post because I didn't mean sidekick, at least not in the sense of a hypeman. I meant it more like co-lead.

And your point is solid. I liked Andre, but I just don't like his post OutKast work. It wasn't until after listening to some solo Andre 3000 verses that it became clear how much Big Boi's presence made their music great, whether it was in terms of lyrics or just his role in the decision making process.

And I also feel the same way about Tribe. Q-Tip is one of my favorite MC's but I always go back to the Tribe albums, instead of listening to his solo stuff.

I guess it's like Jordan and Pippen. Jordan was the legend, but he also never won a title without Pippen. #ittakestwo

I think Tip's solo stuff is an extension of the Tribe stuff,
which to me shows that he was the genius behind it.
Couple that in with his outside production (NaS, Mobb Deep).

I really dig the solo stuff he produced around the Midnight Mauraders/Beats Rhymes and Life days - One Love, Crooklyn Dodgers, Ill Vibe

I even like Amplified alot although I still prefer the Tribe stuff.
The later Tip stuff just didn't grab my attention like his earlier work.

Tribe was my favorite group and their particular sound really made an impact on me obviously.

Nostaligia is powerful, I guess.

Not that I think 3k is wack or anything, but Big has been my fav DF member from ATLiens on.

I think it's because Big can go left but always seems grounded. You can tell Big thinks differently than everyone, but could still talk shit on the porch with you you know?!?

There's a few 2nd rappers I've liked tho. I bought all of the Memphis Bleek albums, Trife (Ghostface) was/is underrated IMO, Streelife (Meth) is cold, when he was a part of D-Block I liked J-Hood a lot.

When I saw the title for the post I imagined it was referring to hypemen like Flav, whom you mention. I know there must be other examples that are escaping me at present.

So I'm just kind of curious - examples of other hypemen a la Flav?

You’ve got hype men like Flav and Freaky Tah.

You’ve got rappers who get equal mic time and many times are great rappers themselves, but are typically not regarded as highly as their partner: Big Boi, Malice, Big Pooh, Dave. I say “typically” because sometimes people prefer these rappers over their partner as this thread has shown. But the general consensus would be that the partner is better. Still, these are not sidekicks IMO. They hold down 50% of the album.

Then you’ve got those that didn’t get as much mic time or play as big of a role in the group....these would be the ones that could be more accurately described as “sidekicks” IMO. Vin Rock, Phife, maybe Malik B. That’s no disrespect to any of them....Tribe wouldn’t be Tribe without Phife and he’s obviously a legend. But Q-Tip carried a bigger load as far as having more verses(not on every album, but overall), plus producing.

Whether you call them side-kicks, their posse/crew, or affiliates, sometimes those rappers and band members who are down with a group or an artist make the main artist seem more legit or have enough confidence in their own to let their friends get on, on their album or help them branch off into their own solo projects, or when a band member starts a side project with another member of another group.

Back in the day, that's how it always was cause everyone had ideas, wrote music, wanted to prove they could make something on their own, it might not always be popular enough to sell but sometimes it would be a decent album to listen to, and even strange enough to bring in a different sound than what their better halves are doing.

And then you got the ones who should've never be making music but somehow have fans/listeners, and you wonder why?

To me Big Noyd is one of the best rappers that emerged from the Mobb Deep camp, the Infamous Mobb is okay but to me they were just decent, I never cared for Nitty or Big Twin though, Bars N' Hooks were cool but seem like Mobb Deep-lite, Littles was aight, I think he got mad at Prodigy at one point and parted ways after Prodigy set them straight, but him making diss records at Prodigy was just dumb.

Big Noyd was/is a true spitter, he can hold his own and it shows ever since the "Infamous" album, I got four of his solo albums and they all are worth listening to from beginning to end.

One of my favorite guest verses.

Hahahahahaha.

I was pretty sad about that breakup

https://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=3013163&mesg_id=3013163

Not much has happened since then though.

I was just wondering what actually happened or if Anita ever released something after that split...or was a reunion reconcilable?