André 3000

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André 3000
Background information
Birth name André Benjamin
Also known as Dré
Born May 27, 1975
Origin Atlanta, Georgia
Occupation(s) rapper, actor, singer
Years active 1992-present
Label(s) LaFace

André 3000 (born André Benjamin on May 27, 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American rapper, hip hop producer and actor. He is half of the successful hip hop duo, OutKast.

Contents

[edit] Early life

André is an only child and was born in Atlanta and raised by a single mother. He met his future OutKast partner, Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, when the two attended Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Georgia.

[edit] Career

See OutKast for additional information.

In 2003, Outkast released Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, a double album that 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, whereas 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.

In addition to rap groups A Tribe Called Quest and 2 Live Crew, other influences on André 3000's music include punk and new wave artists The Ramones, the Buzzcocks, The Hives, and The Smiths. In the February 14, 2004, issue of British music magazine New Musical Express, he identifies "William, It Was Really Nothing" as his favorite Smiths tune. André has also been outspoken about his admiration for british electronic composer Squarepusher and has mentioned an interest to possibly collaborate in the future. He has also expressed his fondness for Prince's music, which he claims heavily influenced his musical style. [1]

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 26th, 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 Lousiana and is being produced by Chesley Seals and Kat Hantas. He is voicing a hawk in Charlotte's Web, a movie adaptation of the 1952 children's book. Starting in November 2006 he will voice a new series on Cartoon Network called Class of 3000 where he plays Sunny Bridges, a prize winning musician. In addition, each episode will feature a new song. He has also worked with Esthero on a promotional version of "Jungle Book" which was on a Wikked lil' grrrls sampler, which never made it to the actual album to issues with Esthero's publisher, Warner.

[edit] Aliases

André has several aliases: "Dre" (his original moniker), "Possum Aloysius Jenkins", "Dookie", the reversed "Benjamin André" and "Johnny Vulture" (for example on Gwen Stefani's album Love. Angel. Music. Baby., on which he produced/appeared on the tracks "Bubble Pop Electric" and "Long Way To Go"). 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. ppp

[edit] Personal life

André was in a romantic relationship with neo soul musician Erykah Badu for several years. Together, they have a son, Seven (b. 1997). André has chronicled the relationship and its breakup in various OutKast songs, including "Ms. Jackson", the second single from the album Stankonia. The song is addressed to Badu's mother, whose maiden name was actually Wright. Andre felt that Jackson was a more recognizable name. On the last track of "The Love Below", entitled "A Life in the Day Of Benjamin Andre (Incomplete)", he delivers an epic, breakneck-pace autobiography chronicling his youth to the present day.

In 2004, PETA named Andre "Sexiest Vegetarian of the Year". [2]

Andre is a big fan of his local college team, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He is also a big fan of the Atlanta Braves.

[edit] October 2006 Gun Controversy

According to an article provided by "World Entertainment News Network", Benjamin claimed to always carry a gun for protection, not wanting any bodyguards around him. Benjamin also stated he intends to buy his nine-year-old son a gun as soon as he is old enough to carry it, claiming that "packing heat" is a necessity of life. This advocating of guns caused some outrage amongst gun protesters, while it won him praise from 2nd Amendment supporters.[3]

[edit] Class of 3000

Main article: Class of 3000

Andrè 3000 is currently the voice of Sunny Bridges in the cartoon, Class Of 3000. For more, see the main article.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/n/d/Andr%C3%A9_3000.html"
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