The South Has Something To Say: Outkast Among 2025 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Inductees
The South has something to say: Outkast is among the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. This year’s class was unveiled during Sunday night’s (April 27) episode of American Idol.
Others in the performance category include Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Soundgarden and The White Stripes. In the Musical Influence Award category are Salt-n-Pepa and Warren Zevon, while Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins and Carol Kaye are in the Musical Excellence Award category. Producer Lenny Waronker will be honored with the Ahmet Ertegun Award.
Upon hearing the news, Killer Mike—who won his first Grammy Award for his guest vocals on Outkast’s 2001 single “The Whole World”—told AllHipHop, “The South has truly said something, time and time again and did it while remaining players and so fresh and so clean every step of the way. Thank you Outkast, Organized Noize and RIP Rico Wade.”
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Outkast’s impact on Hip-Hop is both foundational and transformative. Together with the production trio Organized Noize—fellow Dungeon Family members Rico Wade, Sleepy Brown and Ray Murray—André 3000 and Big Boi fundamentally shifted the genre’s sound, geography and cultural reach. Emerging from Atlanta in the early ’90s, Outkast brought Southern Hip-Hop to national prominence at a time when the genre was dominated by East and West Coast artists.
Their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, was realized at Wade’s mother’s house, which they christened “The Dungeon.” It gave Atlanta a voice and sparked what many consider the city’s rap renaissance, inspiring a new generation of Southern artists and making Atlanta a major hub for Hip-Hop innovation. Outkast’s meteoric success proved that great rap could come from anywhere, breaking down geographic barriers and allowing artists from previously overlooked regions to gain recognition.
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The Dungeon. Atlanta, Georgia. Photo by Kyle Eustice
Outkast is renowned for their fearless experimentation and genre-blending, pushing the boundaries of what Hip-Hop could sound like. Albums such as Aquemini and Stankonia fused funk, jazz, gospel and even country, setting new standards for production and songwriting.
With Big Boi’s streetwise lyricism and André 3000’s poetic, avant-garde approach, Outkast redefined Hip-Hop’s archetypes and made space for greater diversity of expression within the genre.
The Dungeon Family suffered a major loss last year, when Rico Wade died unexpectedly at just 52 years old. Each member continues to pay tribute and remember Wade through various social media tributes and in-person celebrations. Last month, Outkast shared some rare footage of them posted up at The Dungeon, where Fab 5 Freddy interviewed them for an episode of Yo! MTV Raps.
Learn more about their journey below.
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