The American rapper with his proficiency in songwriting and singing ability has reached an enormous height in the music world. Of course, he is also a tremendous multi-instrumentalist. The efficacy has also reached in the production of records and also incompetent acting. His association with Big Boi had “Outkast” all in the hip-hop genre. Their debut single “Player’s Ball” in 1993 had remained at peak No.1 on the charts for six weeks at a stretch.
Later their “Hey Day” gained a permanent seat in the top 500 songs at Rolling Stone’s all-time hits. Their reputation is further proved by their six Grammy Awards which they have bagged throughout their musical journey. He is quite a common face in the television world and had also appeared in some movies too.
Obviously, a man who had tasted so much success in life is an attractive personality for endorsements. Adding to his artistic endeavors he has also shown competent caliber in entrepreneurship. In 2008 Andre started a company ‘Benjamin Bixby’ which is a business in the clothing line. He is an ideal role model for many young enthusiasts who want to succeed in life. Not all can achieve so much success as Andre has attained with his versatile abilities in the various profession. With his different engagements, Andre had accumulated not less than 45 million dollars of estimated net worth.
Early life
Andre 3000 is the name which is known to the world as the most expert hip hop rapper in the music world, but he was named as André Lauren Benjamin by his parent when he was born on 27th May 1975. He was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America. He holds the American nationality and belongs to Afro-American ethnicity. He was raised by Sharon Benjamin who is a single mother, and on attaining teenage, at 16, she sends him to Lawrence Walker who was his father to put a check on her boy.
He was raised in Buckhead and East Point which is at Georgia. His mother used to call her son as ‘Dre’ in his younger days. For his elementary education, he got into Sarah Smith Elementary School. Then he went to Willis A. Sutton Middle School and to perform arts enrolled in Tri-Cities High School. In Tri-Cities, his inborn artistic ability was explored and also encouraged for the various performances. During this period in his school he got in touch with Antwan Patton, and shortly they became rivals in school competitions. They both appreciated each other ability to rap, and their attachment towards music brought them together. After this, they maintained their friendship even beyond the school campus, throughout the life.
Andre’s mother had to take an enormous load to maintain herself and her son. The days were so tough that in failing to pay the rent of the housed, she had to move around from one house to another in the southwest areas of Atlanta. Instead of having such precarious condition his mother had always appreciated her son’s attachment towards the sound and the music. When Andre got serious into music and started showing less interest in studies, she sends out her boy to his father who can mold him. His father instead of advising him rather encouraged on his endeavor and Andre started spending more time in parties in clubs. His lack of concern for his studies slowly got beyond repair, and finally, he dropped out. Later Andre managed to get the equivalent high school grade (GED). One thing requires mentioning is his interest towards fashion. At his teens when he failed to match up with costly apparels he started using the self-styled logo on his white shirts.
During their teenage Andre and his friend preferred to pass several hours around the mall as other teens but with a different approach. They formed the duo band under ‘2 Shades Deep’ and started performing in and around these malls. Their rapping ability impressed the locals and each day their confidence grew under the shade of Black Wolf and Black Dog. A girlfriend one day acquainted them with Rico Wade who was one of the members of trio group ‘Atlanta’s Organized Noize.’ Rico was highly impressed by the confrontational and observational rhymes of Patton and Andre. Rico took them to ‘The Dungeon’, his studio.
Career
The two friends started spending more time in the studio with other musical aspirants. Soon Rico managed to arrange an audition before “L.A.” Reid, who along with Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds co-founded LaFace, which is in tune with Artista Records. On their first audition, Patton and Andre failed to impress Reid. But after working on with their lyrics and style of rapping with Atlanta’s Organized Noize for some days gained the confidence of Reid. Reid was ready for the contract, but their age of minority required approval from parents. Parents denied in their children’s getting into such contract which compelled them to wait for another year.
The duo gave them a new name ‘OutKast’ and with a bang started their musical journey in 1993. Their debut song “Players’ Ball” gave the music lovers a sure promise of performing some excellent music. The song went gold and retained the top rank for six consecutive weeks on the rap charts. While doing with their first album ‘Southern Playalisticadillacmuzik’ Andre had taken a resolution not to smoke or drink, and also he became a vegetarian without dairy products. His attire gradually became more eccentric. Whatever had happened and whatever rumors have come up in the air but nothing came in his way from earning huge popularity rapidly. The music reviews saw them as new advent in the hip-hop. Their constant confronts with the categorization earned them a high recognition from the commentators. Their involvement with every single track can be easily perceived which were blended with American sound variations in rhythm beat melody and instrumentation. The “slumadelic” tag illustrated the American life with positive messages.
In the meantime, the duo got disappointed when Rosa Park went to file lodge a case against them because the person treated their album which gained double Platinum as a misdemeanor. It was a shocking incident for them as they considered the personality had played a major role in shaping their musical career. Rosa Park revived the suit after being dismissed initially. While focusing on their musical endeavor the music world has been fulfilled by the Patton intelligent rap perfectly complemented by the poetic competency of Andre. Andre’s most prolific poetic expressions reached a height as Prince inspired him.
Andre has endeavored in ATLiens which was released in 1996. Then in 1998, he came out with ‘Aquimini’ and ‘Stankonia’ was released in 2000. The #2 rank honored all these albums on the Billboard chart. In 2003 October Andre gave the world to cherish ‘The Love Below’ which was a perfect match for his companion Patton ‘Speakerboxxx.’ The two albums brought out two No.1 hits as ‘Hey Ya!’ and ‘The way You Move’ dominated the Billboard chart. The double album bagged the Grammy of the year. Rolling Stone enlisted ‘Hey Ya!’ in all-time 500 Greatest Song list. Andre was little away from his musical endeavor which he revived in 2007. Given some outstanding remixes which included “Walk It Out,” “Throw Some D’s,” “30 something” and “You.” Along with remixes he also contributed to the original songs such as “International Players Anthem,” “What a Job” and “Everybody” of UGK, Devin the Deud and Fonzworth Bentley respectively. He had also collaborated with Q-Top for ‘Be Brave’ supposed to be the track of ‘The Renaissance.’
Though his musical efficacy had earned more fame still Andre has shown a reasonable proficiency in acting. In 2003 only Andre gave his performance in the movie ‘Hollywood Homicide’ in which he acted with Harrison Ford. After two years he appeared in four more movies which include ‘Four Brother’ and ‘Be Cool.’ His other films were ‘Semi-Pro,’ ‘The Shield’ and ‘Families.’ He went in to be a part of a production by Quentin Tarantino. His poetic efficiency had enriched some television production and movie since 1995. He contributed in ‘Any Given Sunday,’ Soul Food,’ ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ ‘8 Mile’ and ‘The X Factor’ like productions.
Andre had also given his performance in John Ridley’s production ‘All Is by My Side’ where he acted as Jimi Hendrix and movie was an Oscar winner. This has been considered as his best performance in movies so far.
Personal life
Andre had a close relation with Erykah Badu, a singer, the relation went even further, and the couple gave birth to a child in 1997 whom they named Seven. But unfortunately, the birth of seven was not a good reason for them to stay together.
In 2004 Andre along with Silverstone was declared as the “World’s Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity” by the Ethical Treatment of Animals. All his engagements had enabled him to earn quite handsomely throughout his multi-talented career.
Quick summary:
Full Name: André Lauren Benjamin
Date of Birth: 27th May 1975
Birth Place: Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Age: 43 Year Old
Profession: Rapper, Singer, Songwriter, Actor
Height:
Weight:
Net worth: $45 Million
