Outkast redefined hip-hop with their genre-blending sound and relentless innovation, proving the “Dirty South” could compete with rap music’s long-standing East and West Coast scenes. Outkast’s distinctive sound – a blend of funk, soul, and jazz with introspective storytelling – helped them become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful hip-hop groups of all-time. With massive tracks like “Hey Ya!,” Outkast challenged every norm, defied every genre, and pushed every boundary.

André “3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton formed Outkast in 1992 as 16-year-old high school students in Atlanta. The duo would soon team up with local producers Organized Noize and, along with fellow schoolmates Goodie Mob, they formed the Dungeon Family collective. Together, they elevated Atlanta as a cultural and musical hub. In 1992, Outkast signed with LaFace Records, becoming the label’s first hip-hop act. Their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994), featured laid-back classics like “Player’s Ball” and earned them Best New Rap Group at the 1995 Source Awards. This felt like a watershed moment for hip-hop – as Benjamin famously said, “The South got something to say.”

Outkast’s next two albums – 1996’s ATLiens and 1998’s Aquemini – continued to expand their sound, introducing experimental and futuristic production. This era produced some of Outkast’s most critically acclaimed songs, including “ATLiens,” “Rosa Parks,” and “SpottieOttieDopaliscious.” In 2000, Stankonia evolved their sound again, with the deeply personal “Ms. Jackson” and the electro-influenced “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” – a song Pitchfork called the Number One song of the 2000s. Outkast would reach new heights with the release of 2003’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The album earned a Grammy for Album of the Year as well as yielding two Number One hits – “The Way You Move” and the ubiquitous “Hey Ya!”

The legacy of Outkast is vividly apparent in all pockets of contemporary hitmakers – the introspection of Kendrick Lamar, the afro-futurism of Janelle Monáe, the individuality of Tyler, the Creator – and an entire generation of ATL protégés including T.I., Ludacris, Future, and Migos.

Selected discography:

“Player’s Ball,” Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994) • “Elevators (Me & You),” “ATLiens,” ATLiens (1996) • “Rosa Parks,” “Da Art of Storytellin’ (Pt. 1)” (feat Slick Rick), “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” Aquemini (1998) • “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad),” “Ms. Jackson,” “So Fresh, So Clean,” Stankonia (2000) • “The Whole World,” Big Boi and Dre Present… OutKast (2001) • “Hey Ya!,” “The Way You Move,” “Roses,” Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) • “Morris Brown,” Idlewild (2006) • “Int’l Players Anthem,” UGK Underground Kingz (2007)

Inductees: André 3000 (André Benjamin) and Big Boi (Antwan Patton)

When Salt-N-Pepa jumped into the rap scene, a new era of hip-hop was born – a time for women to harness their own power and flip the male-dominated genre on its head. They established a new look and style with their spandex, asymmetrical haircuts, and Dapper Dan jackets.  Musically they mixed a two-MC flow with expert DJ technique, all while blending hip-hop beats with pop– and R&B–influenced melodies and confident lyrics celebrating female empowerment.  They were the first major all-female rap group and the first women in rap to go platinum, crowning them the First Ladies of Rap.

Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton were nursing students at Queensborough Community College when they met while working together at Sears. At the urging of their friend – and later producer and songwriter – Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor, they cut the track “The Showstopper” for his music school project, a response to Doug E. Fresh’s single “The Show.” The song was a radio hit, and the group soon rounded out their act by adding a DJ – Dee Dee Roper as Spinderella. The group’s 1986 debut, Hot, Cool & Vicious, gained traction, but it was the B side to “Tramp,” 1987’s “Push It,” that would catapult them onto the charts. Peaking at 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song’s real impact came with its nomination for Best Rap Performance at the Grammys in 1989 – the award’s first-ever prize in the rap genre – and a re-released album with the hit track went platinum.

By 1990, Salt-N-Pepa began to flex creative independence with their album Blacks’ Magic, with Salt writing and producing “Expression,” their first track to top the Hot Rap Singles chart. Salt-N-Pepa spoke to a country shaken by the AIDS epidemic with “Let’s Talk About Sex,” a brazen yet honest call for safety and agency. 1993’s “None of Your Business,” off the group’s LP Very Necessary, challenged sexual norms and gender roles even harder, and the track’s Grammy win – a first for women in rap – proved their message landed. Additional hot singles “Whatta Man” (with En Vogue) and the Salt-N-Pepa–penned “Shoop” helped drive the album to five times platinum.

Salt-N-Pepa received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Grammys, the first female rappers to enjoy the honor. The group has inspired five decades of female MCs – MC Lyte said, “There’s no way that I can say that I wasn’t influenced by Salt-N-Pepa.” Their undeniably provocative, fresh style and worldwide commercial success broke ground for women in rap.