OutKast has been inducted into the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class.
The Atlanta rap duo accepted the honor from Childish Gambino at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday night (November 8).
“Your influence is everywhere and affects every artist I love,” Gambino said before presenting the honor to André 3000 and Big Boi. “Without you, Atlanta wouldn’t be the music mecca it is. Without you, there would be no Childish Gambino. Without you, there would be no South. So tonight, we honor two visionaries who turned difference into a dynasty. Two brothers who showed the world that you don’t have to choose. Just respect each other and love each other. Ladies and gentlemen, truly undeniable outcasts.”
When Big Boy and Andre took the stage to give their acceptance speeches, they played a game of rock, scissors, and paper to see who would go first. Big Boi started by making a list of people they wanted to thank.
“First of all, oh Lord, I want to thank the Most High for having us here tonight and thank you for meeting my brother from day one,” Big Boy said.
During Three Stacks’s speech, which he said he spoke off the cuff, he became emotional as he recalled how OutKast began in a small room at the Dungeon Family studio. Andre was inspired by the “little room” that The White Stripes’ Jack White mentioned in his own Rock Hall acceptance speech.
“Jack said one thing, man, Jack, he’s one of my favorite guys. Man. We love you, man. He said one thing, he said something about the cubicle. And then we started…” Andre paused, calming down while getting emotional. “Little rooms. Great things start in little rooms.”
Big Boi then celebrated the induction without André by performing a medley of OutKast hits with Tyler, The Creator, JID, Killer Mike, Janelle Monáe and Doja Cat.
While OutKast is the only hip-hop group inducted this year, Salt-N-Pepa also won the Music Impact Award along with late rocker Warren Zoven.
OutKast joins the growing list of rappers joining the Rock Hall over the past two decades, including Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Run-DMC, Public Enemy, NWA, Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, Eminem, Missy Elliott and more. Last year, A Tribe Called Quest received this special honor.
Arguably the greatest hip-hop duo of all time, OutKast helped put Southern hip-hop on the map in 1994 with their debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. The ever-evolving duo went on to launch a number of critically acclaimed projects, including ATLiens (1996), Aquemini (1998) and Stankonia (2000). Their 2003 double album “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” won the 2003 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and was certified Diamond.
