André 3000: Forever King of the Grammys
Hear me out: André 3000 is the king of the Grammys. Forever and always. It's the daring looks, the remarkable performances, and the landmark wins that together have put him at the center of the most memorable moments in the award show's history.
Lyrically and creatively, 3000 is one of hip-hop’s undisputed GOATS, but it was his style that brought the music to life. It was electric and in-your-face. He captured your attention with his colorful wardrobe in the “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad)” video and also ruffled feathers with his 2004 Grammys performance. If you saw 3000 on your television screen, whether it be a Grammys performance or a music video, chances were, you were going to remember it.
3000 was always one to go against the grain, and his Grammy appearances proved that each time. While the average famous guy showed up in a plain tuxedo, 3000 would arrive shirtless or wearing a wig. We never knew what to expect, and that’s what we loved about him. The energy he brought to the Grammys was enough to have you in front of your TV dancing and singing along.
To truly understand where his iconic Grammys looks stem from, we have to travel back to the beginning of his career.
It was 1994 and 3000 was only 19 years old when Outkast’s critically acclaimed album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik was released, and his storied career took off. At the time, his wardrobe was that of a typical Atlanta teen: Atlanta Braves jerseys, baseball caps, and jeans.
It wouldn’t be until Outkast’s sophomore album ATLiens dropped in 1996 that 3000’s style began to evolve along with the music as both began to get a bit more eclectic. For instance, he would wear a pleated turban to cover his hair, accessorized with certain tribal-influenced pieces. “I always wanted to look like I was from another planet,” said 3000 in a 2019 appearance on producer Rick Rubin’s podcast. “Around the ATLiens time is when it really started to come into play.” Some fans understood but others thought he was going through an identity crisis. “It became intriguing to me that it pissed a lot of people off so I kinda dug in the whole way.”
By the time 1998 rolled around and Outkast released Aquemini, 3000 had fully come into his own in terms of music and style. He and his partner Big Boi were producing now, giving them more control over their sound and meshing it with 3000’s electrifying style.“We were making music that was otherworldly, so it was like, let me look like the music,” said 3000 on Rubin’s podcast. The arrival of André 3000 as we know him was in the “Rosa Parks” video, where he sported looks that included tiger stripe pants, feather pants, and football pads. The visual for “Skew It On The Bar-B” was also the first time we saw him in a wig. ”The white wig was about being from another planet.”
3000 credits his daring style to people such as George Clinton of Parliament & Funkadelic, Sly Stone, and even Prince. All of these artists possessed androgynous wardrobe elements and challenged typical masculinity stereotypes: Prince nearly always wore heels, for instance. “I would go down to Little 5 Points in Atlanta and buy old video tapes of Funkadelic performances,” 3000 recalled to Rubin. “I felt like I was a part of that lineage.”
It wasn’t until 1999 that Outkast got their first taste of the Grammys. They’d earned a nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Group with their hit single “Rosa Parks” (but lost to the Beastie Boys).
The iconic Grammys appearances and performances would come later, in 2002, and two years after the release of their fourth album Stankonia. This album earned Outkast two Grammys wins; one for Best Rap Album and one for Best Rap Performance by a Group. Outkast took the stage to perform “Ms. Jackson” and, in true André 3000 fashion, he burst onto the stage in an all-pink ensemble, black top hat and a platinum wig.
This look was iconic because of its boldness. We had yet to see a hip-hop artist ever grace the Grammys in such a way. That year, Lil Kim, Christina Aguilera, and P!nk hit the stage wearing shimmering attire but it wasn’t often that a male artist could steal the show with their wardrobe.
Follow-up LP Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) was the first Outkast album of its kind. It was packaged as a double album, but it was ultimately two solo efforts from each member. Just when we thought 3000 had exceeded the limits of creativity, he broke barriers once again, giving us a version of himself we’d never heard. Singles such as “Hey Ya” and “The Way You Move” topped the music charts.
When it comes to Outkast’s Grammys story, this was the pinnacle; the success of Speakerboxxx/The Love Below got the group nominated for six Grammy awards; they won three.
3000 wore two looks on the night of the 2004 Grammys. He first accepted the award for Best Rap Album, possibly delivering one of the shortest acceptance speeches of all time in a preppy ‘fit. It wasn’t what we were used to seeing from him at the time: a pair of raw denim jeans, white dress shirt, a tie, houndstooth cap, and a lime green work jacket. At this point in his career, fans expected something a little more crazy from 3000 but this calm ‘fit was only an appetizer for what he would wear later that night: a green bandana, silver boots, and a pair of pants with draped fabric and feathers. No shirt.
And it was shirtless, in silver boots, that 3000 took to the stage for what would be a milestone for Outkast: becoming the first rap group to win a Grammy for Album of the Year.
He closed the 2004 Grammys with a performance of “Hey Ya,” still shirtless, and still in those silver boots. (If the outfit was pitch perfect, the Native American-inspired stage design was not, and CBS subsequently issued a public apology to the Native American community.)
Though Outkast received two Grammy nominations in 2007 for their final album Idlewild (2006), 2004 was the last we’d see of its style king. After that, 3000 took a hiatus from music, only dropping a few guest verses here and there.
That was until 2023 rolled around.
Hickory stripe overalls, a beanie, and a classic sneaker. 3000 prefers the simpler things in life now, and that’s reflected in his “uniform” and his new album, New Blue Sun. The ‘fit has become synonymous over the years with the “I spotted André 3000” game: fans spot 3000 living his best life, usually playing his flute, and take a photo of him for social media. He even wore the look in the photoshoot for his 2022 Supreme T-shirt collaboration.
Nowadays, you can see 3000’s style influence sprinkled throughout the culture in artist’s wardrobes, performances, stage designs and even music videos.
He’s the person who your favorite rapper credits as an influence, musically and stylistically.
It’s been four years since 3000 won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance, contributing to Anderson Paak’s single “Come Home.” This year, for the 66th Grammy Awards, he’s nominated twice for his standout verse on Killer Mike’s “SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS”: one for Rap Song of the year and the other for Rap Performance. If he wins, it’ll only be further evidence of what we already know to be true: André 3000 will forever and always be a king of the Grammys.
