BIG BOI (US)
Saturday
Is he the greatest rapper of our time? Well, he definitely belongs to the elite. Antwan “Big Brother” Patton has tended to be overshadowed by his far more flamboyant and outgoing Outkast partner André 3000. However, that doesn’t mean that he is any less interesting from a musical point of view; no, rather the opposite. While André has been experimenting with both image and genre, Big Boi has kept his rap banner flying high and gotten more praise from the hip hop scene than his partner. And also, many Outkast fans prefer Big Boi’s more focused parts of the monumental double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003), which together with the masterpiece Stankonia (2000) definitely will end up on most of the “Best of” lists that are bound to turn up now than the decade is nearing its end. It is the creative tension that has made Outkast one of the foremost groundbreakers of our time – but the battle between two large egos has also made the members slowly drift apart. The duo is not formally dissolved, but they’re not working together anymore.
During the past two years, Big Boi has leaked – or released, depending on how you see it – singles from the coming album Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. Each and every one of them has taken the blog community and critics by storm, something which has made expectations massive prior to its release. The album will be released on the highly credible Def Jam. Therefore, the Øya Festival administration is pretty damn proud to present Big Boi as a solo act on a Norwegian stage for the first time ever. He presented a rather short pre-taste of his live show during this year’s SXSW festival in Texas, but during that time he gave the audience a bit of genuine tongue twister rap and some ultra catchy hooks. A couple of Outkast all time faves were also included in the set.
