Outkast future uncertain

More and more people are speculating about the situation

involving Outkast members Big Boi and Andre 3000. Will one of

hip-hop’s most influential groups break up?

Suggestions of a possible separation come from the release of

their latest album that hit stores Sept. 23, which consists of two

discs, Speakerboxx, a solo effort by Big Boi, and The Love Below, a

solo effort by Andre.

The two hardly collaborated on each others’ CD nor do they

appear in each others’ video single, “The Way You Move and Hey Ya,”

with the exception of Big Boi’s short cameo in the beginning of

“Hey Ya.”

Speakerboxxx/The Love Below definitely illustrates that Big Boi

and Andre have styles headed in opposite directions. On The Love

Below, Andre deviates from the typical hip-hop and funk of Outkast

and experiments with almost every musical style ranging from techno

to a love ballad with Norah Jones. Big Boi keeps his disc,

Speakerboxx, strictly southernplayalistic.

So, does their latest disc foreshadow a split between the

two?

Despite allegations that Andre wants to leave the group and move

to California to pursue the clarinet and possibly enroll in music

school, Andre and Big Boi claim that Outkast will never breakup. As

for the outlook of the group…time will only tell.