It was almost noon before Andre Benjamin woke up, and he did not get out of bed immediately; the day would commence soon enough. Restlessness sets in; he rises, showers, and dresses without allowing the fact that he will be watched today affect him in the least. He begins: a white long-sleeved, two-button Henley tucked into crisp, dark-washed jeans; cream-colored suspenders with touches of brown and green that, closer, are tiny monkeys clutching on to leafy bamboo trees; a small strand of brown, blue, and white beads; and a favored straw hat. He faces himself in the mirror and, for a moment, contemplates the task ahead. “Well,” Andre Benjamin sighs, “here we go again.”
Left to his own devices, Andre Benjamin (aka Andre 3000, aka Possum Aloisius Jenkins, aka Dookey Blossomgang III—Funk Crusader–Love Pusher–Dungeon Family–first-generation-here-to-drop-the-turd) would not suffer interviews. He’s been trying to get out of doing them since he and his OutKast other half, Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, released their fourth album, Stankonia, six years ago. Yet at the appointed hour, he navigates the haphazard wonderland of talking birds, wooden chimes, light catchers, lily-pad water fountains, and loop-de-loops decorated throughout R. Thomas’ Deluxe Grill, a tiki-hut–like restaurant off Atlanta’s Peachtree Street, breakfast available 24 hours, and everything comes with a side o’ whimsy.
“Lemme tell you why I like this place,” Andre begins. “Because on any given night—[to waiter] ‘Sup? Chillin’…Yeah, lemme get ahhhhh, a coconut delight—on any given night, you look at the clientele, it’s any and everybody. It ain’t one type of people. You got suave street thugs comin’ in for the hot wings, you got a whole Caucasian family over here, you got old people, young people, kids, dreds….”
And then there’s Dre, who is many things, but chiefly relevant: Atlanta born (East Point raised), vegetarian, respected and gifted hip hop artist, and, of late, actor. (He prefers “film enthusiast.”) This late summer And and Antwan are starring in the major-film release Idlewild, a Prohibition-era musical about two childhood friends whose lives become increasingly complicated in their hometown of Idlewild, Ga. The film’s sound track of original music will also be the team’s sixth studio album, a beautiful thing considering the rumor that OutKast has been breaking up damn near since Andre started wearing his grandmama’s church cap as a space helmet.
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Karen R. Good. Outkast: Back to the Future. Copyright 2006 Vibe.com.
