From the ATLien rapper of OutKast to the Funk Soul revisionist of his solo work, from acting in films like Semi-Pro and the forthcoming Battle In Seattle to unveiling his own Benjamin Bixby fashion line this fall, Andre Benjamin is the rare Hip Hop artist who simply refuses to be pigeonholed. In a series of interviews in Los Angeles and his native Atlanta, we spoke with the multi-talented Benjamin on a broad variety of topics ranging from his early artistic influences and the changes in the music scene over the past decade to sociopolitical consciousness in Hip Hop and his secret creative talent.

HipHopDX: You’ve always been one of the most eclectic artists in Hip Hop. Who were some of the artists who inspired you when you first started making music?
Andre 3000: Well, I came into music as a rhymer, and the group that really made me wanna rap was Eric B. & Rakim. There was something about the way Rakim put words together that made me wanna try it. But before that I listened to everything growing up, from Led Zeppelin and INXS to Depeche Mode and Grand Funk Railroad, from Ice Cube and Too Short to Brand Nubian and A Tribe Called Quest. Whether it was Prince, Sly Stone, Funkadelic or Joni Mitchell, I just liked anything that sounded good. I knew that I wanted to be able to make any kind of music I felt like making, but of course you have certain things that people respond to. There’s a “brand” people expect you to do over and over again, which I’m not really a big fan of.

DX: Do you find yourself rebelling against that sort of limiting categorization?
A: Not intentionally, but I have to keep myself excited. I get bored really easily, so if I feel like I’m doing the same thing repeatedly it feels like I’m cheating, in a way.

DX: In the here-today-gone-tomorrow world of Hip Hop, you’re a storied veteran with 15 years of experience under your belt. For better or worse, how has the game changed most over that time?
A: It’s just a new generation, and it’s easier to put songs out now. Back when we were signed, to have a record deal was the big think. Record deals really don’t mean as much now, because you can use the Internet to get your music out and let people hear it. Record companies aren’t playing the same role that they used to because physical sales are going down and digital sales are going up. So now record companies are becoming Internet companies.

DX: How did you feel about Radiohead putting their In Rainbows album online and letting people pay whatever they wanted to download it?
A: Man, that made me feel so good! I bowed to them when I heard about that. It’s so cool and I really wish I could do it, but you can only do that when you’re not under contract with your record company.

DX: You guys, along with Goodie Mob and Organized Noize, were instrumental in the ATL’s early Hip Hop explosion. Was there a particular moment when you realized the scene was about to bubble up on a national level?
A: It really didn’t happen until we started recording Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. We were all just kinda hanging around The Dungeon and making songs, but until we went into the studio… And even then, we didn’t know. We didn’t really know until we hit the road and started to perform the songs, and people started to respond to this Southern kind of sound.

DX: Why do you think today’s Hip Hop scene is so lacking in socio-political content compared to when you guys were first starting out?
A: Times change. I don’t think it’s a good or bad thing. I think people complain about music all the time, but at the end of the day hip-hop is about kids talking about what’s going on around them, and what other kids respond to. It lets you know where the community is at the time: If the music isn’t so good, maybe they’re more focused of looking great, cars, clothes and all that stuff. You can’t be mad at ‘em, 'cause that’s just where the neighborhood is. If you want to fix it, you gotta fix the neighborhood.

DX: What kinds of music are you listening to these days?
A: I hate to say it, but I don’t listen to much new music. I’ve been listening to a lot of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy. I love ‘70s music like Parliament, Earth Wind & Fire, the Ohio Players, Bob Marley, Curtis Mayfield. I honestly think the ‘70s had the best sound in music. The ’50s and ‘60s had a crude sound, which gave it a great character, but the ’80s were kind of too perfect and overproduced. The ‘70s had that sound that was in your face, but had real space to it and real reverb. It was the most organic music.

DX: How has it been for you, making the transition from music into acting?
A: It was natural for me to get into films, but the acting process was unnatural. I’m good on the screen, but I’m terrible in auditions because I hate having to prove myself. I can’t juggle the two, so when I’m doing film I’m doing film and when I’m doing music I’m doing music. But I’m about to go back into the studio recording, and I’m always thinking of song ideas when come home from the set. I will always do music.

DX: What’s your next film, Battle In Seattle, about?
A: It’s me, Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson and Michelle Rodriguez, and it’s about the protests and riots that took place at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. I play a protestor by the name of Django who kinda keeps protesting fun and lighthearted, even when we’re getting arrested. Continued on page 2 »