OutKast's Influence On Hip-Hop, Explained In Charts

Before the big reunion tour starts, one OutKast fan tracks how the duo went from being underdogs to industry icons.

When OutKast released their debut album in 1994, they put Southern hip-hop on the map.

Via mdaniels.com

When they won the award for Best New Group at the 1995 Source Awards, people booed. But over time, they became one of the rap groups most embraced by the mainstream, even winning a Grammy for Album of the Year. (Only two rap acts — Lauryn Hill and OutKast — have ever won that award.)

Over the years, they popularized Southern slang.

Via mdaniels.com

This chart suggests they were responsible for the proliferation of the words crunk and skeet in the late '90s.

But as they got older, OutKast talked less about the South than they had on their early albums.

Via mdaniels.com

And they started talking more about morality and non-violence.

All that growth and experimentation eventually moved Big Boi and Andre 3000 away from each other, though.

Via mdaniels.com

Even though creative chemistry is basically impossible to measure, OutKast fans, who've been waiting for the duo to record new music together since 2008, already know this.

But the past is the past, and these guys will play no less than 40 festivals this Summer.

Via youtube.com

Y'all get ready. Coachella is just 12 days away.