André 3000

André 3000
André 3000 at the 2007 Comic Con in San Diego, California.
Background information
Birth name	André Lauren Benjamin
Also known as	Andre 3K, Dré, Benjamin André, 3000, Three Stacks, Ice Cold, Possum Aloisious Jenkins, Dookie Blossum Gain the 3rd, Johnny Vulture
Born	May 27, 1975 (1975-05-27) Coral Springs, Florida, U.S.
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop, alternative hip-hop, funk, pop, blues, drum and bass, jazz fusion, southern hip hop
Occupations	Musician, actor, dancer, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, saxophone, harmonica
Years active	1993–present
Labels	LaFace
Associated acts	OutKast, Big Boi, TLC, Dungeon Family, Gwen Stefani, Kelis, Chris Brown, Beyoncé, Kanye West, T.I, Drake, John Legend, Rick Ross, Fabolous, Lil Wayne, B.o.B

André Lauren Benjamin (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name André 3000 (formerly known as Dre) is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, best known for being part of American hip-hop duo OutKast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi. As an actor, Benjamin has made appearances in a number of TV series and films, including Families, The Shield, Be Cool, Revolver, Semi-Pro, and Four Brothers.

In addition to music and acting, Benjamin has also been an active entrepreneur. In the spring of 2008, he launched a clothing line called Benjamin Bixby. He has also been an advocate for animal rights. He is also known for his work on the Cartoon Network animated series Class of 3000.

Early life

Benjamin was born in Coral Springs, Florida, the only child of Sharon Benjamin Hodor, a single mother who sold real estate, and Lawrence Walker, a collections agent. He is of African descent. Growing up in East Point, Georgia and Buckhead, Benjamin saw many different lifestyles related to clothing and music that he combined throughout his career. He attended Willis A. Sutton Middle School, SouthWest Dekalb High School, Newton High School, and Tri-Cities High School.

Career

Music career

In high school, Benjamin (who was then performing as "Dre") met Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. Benjamin & Patton 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 "Player'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 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. Benjamin'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 (Benjamin's third), "Prototype", was released shortly after. Big Boi's Speakerboxxx spawned the #1 hit "The Way You Move" and the relatively successful "Ghetto Musick". The Love Below was, unlike Speakerboxxx, an exercise in funk, jazz, and alternative music, featuring mostly sung (instead of rapped) vocals from Benjamin.

In 2006 OutKast released their sixth album as a group Idlewild. The album served as a soundtrack to the group's musical film Idlewild. The film centered around life in a 1930s setting, and the album took influences from music of that era, particularly blues. Benjamin had a few rapped verses on the album, including on the first single "Mighty O", but mostly stuck with singing as on The Love Below.

He returned to rapping in 2007, after a hiatus from the genre, appearing on various remixes, including: "Walk It Out", "Throw Some D's", "You", Jay-Z's "30 Something", and original songs such as UGK's "International Players Anthem", Devin the Dude's "What A Job", Fonzworth Bentley's "Everybody", and with Big Boi "Royal Flush" and the leaked single "Lookin For Ya". He also appeared on John Legend's album, Evolver, on the track "Green Light", which was released on October 28, 2008. Prior to the release, Benjamin commented: "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. I was actually happy to hear it. This is a cool John Legend song."

Benjamin has stated that he is making a solo rap album, and that the response to his remixes is part of the motivation for it.

In 2010, he was featured on Ciara's remix for her hit single "Ride", from the album Basic Instinct.

On 30 July 2010, Big Boi revealed in an interview that Outkast would release a new album "as soon as Dre finishes his album" stating that Dre is indeed recording an album. He added that they have the beats recorded for the new Outkast album and will continue recording as soon as Dre is done. A snippet of a track titled "I Do" was leaked August 2010 that featured a new rap verse by Benjamin.

On January 14, 2011, a song with Ke$ha called "The Sleazy Remix" was leaked.

On June 7, 2011, Beyonce's song "Party" was leaked, it features Benjamin, it is his first collaboration with the singer. It is also featured on Beyonce's fourth studio album entitled 4 released June 24, 2011.

On August 24, 2011, Lil Wayne's album Tha Carter IV leaked, featuring a song entitled "Interlude" with Benjamin and fellow rapper Tech N9ne performing. Wayne had previously expressed a desire to work with both artists.

Also in 2011, Andre featured on Chris Brown's "Deuces" remix as well as on a Lloyd song, "Dedication to My Ex (Miss That)" with Lil Wayne. He is also featured on Drake's "The Real Her" featuring Lil Wayne. He also was featured on two Ke$ha tracks titled "Sleazy", one of which features just him and one featuring Lil Wayne, T.I., Wiz Khalifa, and himself. He features in "Play the Guitar" by B.o.B.

Andre's music aliases

Early in Andre's career and prior to his major-market success, Benjamin developed several aliases that he used in various attempts to establish recognition and develop his fan base. His aliases ranged from simply Dre' to lucrative and humorous names such as Possum Aloysius Jenkins. His biggest alias prior to his career with Outkast was "the Feat" or simply, Feat. Andre is now most commonly referred to as Andre 3000, or simply 3 stacks

Film career

Benjamin has made appearances in Families, The Shield (he plays Robert Huggins, a character that originated in an episode titled “On Tilt” from Season 3 in 2004), Be Cool, Revolver, Semi Pro, and Four Brothers. He was 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 voiced "Sunny Bridges," a prize-winning musician who gives up touring to teach at his alma mater, in Class of 3000, an animated series he produced on Cartoon Network. 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 label, Warner Bros.. The following year, he appeared in the basketball comedy Semi-Pro, 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.

Benjamin was a member of Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender's production company A Band Apart until its close in 2006; he then formed his own company, Moxie Turtle.

Fashion

He launched the "Benjamin Bixby" clothing line in spring of 2008, inspired by college football circa 1935.

Personal life

In 2004, alongside Alicia Silverstone, Benjamin was voted by PETA to be the 'World's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity. He is also childhood friends with Fonzworth Bentley. Andre also has a son named Seven Sirius Benjamin (born 1997) with R&B singer Erykah Badu.

Arrest

Benjamin was arrested in Henry County, Georgia in March 2009 after being caught driving his 2007 Porsche Carrera 109 mph in a 65 mph speed zone (approximately 175 km/h in a 105 km/h zone).

Politics and endorsements

Benjamin posed for a 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, he has his mouth gagged by a bow-tie in a symbolic function. The ads drew national attention.

Discography

Main article: André 3000 discography

See also: Outkast discography

• 2012: TBA

Solo production discography

Note: Andre also helped produce several songs on OutKast's albums with partner Big Boi, usually credited as just OutKast or as their production alias Earthtone III.

2003

Big Gipp – Mutant Mindframe

• 07. "Boogie Man" (featuring André 3000)

Kelis – Tasty

• 08. "Millionaire" (featuring André 3000)

Killer Mike – Monster

• 03. "Akshon (Yeah!)" (featuring Outkast)
• 09. "U Know I Love U"

2004

Gwen Stefani – Love. Angel. Music. Baby.

• 05. "Bubble Pop Electric" (featuring Johnny Vulture)
• 12. "Long Way to Go" (featuring André 3000)

2010

Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

• 08. "You Ain't No DJ" (featuring Yelawolf)

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	Hollywood Homicide	Silk Brown
2005	Be Cool	Dabu
	Four Brothers	Jeremiah Mercer
	Volcano High	Kim Yung Soo	Voice only
	Revolver	Avi
2006	OutKast: Idlewild	Percival
	Charlotte's Web	Elwyn the Crow	Voice only
	Scary Movie 4	Jack	Uncredited
2007	Fracture	George
	Battle in Seattle	Django
2008	Semi-Pro	Clarence Withers/Coffee Black/Downtown "Funky Stuff" Malone/Sugar Dunkerton/"Jumping" Johnny Johnson
2010	The After Party: The Last Party 3	Himself

Television

Year	Show	Role	Notes
2004; 2008	The Shield	Comic Book Store Owner then later politician, Robert Huggins	two episodes, including series finale episode
2006–2007	Class of 3000	Sunny Bridges	Twenty Six episodes
2008	About a Girl	Security guard	Single episode

Video games

Benjamin provided his voice for the 2005 video game L.A. Rush, as well as beta testing the game.

External links

• André 3000 at the Internet Movie Database
• André 3000 at AllRovi
• I'll give son a gun - Andre 3000
• Andre's gun revelation
• Andre Benjamin Launches Benjamin Bixby Line at Bloomigdale's San Francisco *Link expired*