Big Boi just performed his second reunion show as one half of Outkast, and apparently things went quite a bit smoother this time around-- which is a good thing, seeing as the legendary duo have over 40 festival tour dates set up for this summer.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Big Boi illustrated his excitement for the reunion, but also stressed that his solo output is still a high priority. The rapper spoke of his upcoming album, a collaborative project with Phantogram (who he worked with on Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors), as well as his unconventional taste in collaborators (which includes Modest Mouse).
Read some excerpts from the interview below.
On his upcoming album:
“I’m just working on it now. I’ve got a lot of music, but it ain’t done until you turn it in. We’re about to do 40-something more concerts, so [I’ll be] recording on the road and traveling. I’m shooting for this year. You’ll definitely get a couple of songs before the end of the year. Whether the project is done or not just depends on how wild this road gets.”
On "Big Grams" his project with Phantogram:
“We’ve got songs which were already recorded when we were working on my last record. They come down to Stankonia and we camp out for like a week and trade vibes. They go back to New York, then they come back down and we just keep the process going.”
On his choice in collaborators:
“[I’m looking for] just a sonically different sound than what’s out there. I don’t go for the artists that everybody’s using or get somebody just for the name.”
On working with Modest Mouse:
“I’ve been asking [lead singer] Isaac [Brock] when they gonna do it, man. We’ve got these songs they’ve been sitting on forever. I saw him a couple months ago and they’re working on some additions to what we did. I don’t know. It’s a crazy camp over there. It’s coming. Talk to him! He’s the boss.”