It has been well known that OutKast star Big Boi is a great Kate fan and never misses the opportunity to say how much he would like to work with her. It now seems they have made contact. In a tweet posted this week, he wrote: “Just Got off the Phone with Kate Bush !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!“, and then “Stay Tuned….. ooooowwww !”
The Music News sites are covering the story:
“Let’s not jump the gun too much because, in the mysterious world of Kate Bush’s creative genius, things move very slowly indeed. So the chances of us every hearing what she and Outkast’s Big Boi concoct are still fairly remote. We just might not live that long. But from what we can gather from a couple of tweets, it does at least appear to be happening. Big Boi (real name Antwan André Patton) has been going on and on about wanting to work with Kate Bush for quite a while now. But, you know, who doesn’t want to work with Kate Bush? Or for Kate Bush? Or pay their own money just to stand in her shadow? No one, that’s who. But Catherine was known to be a fan of his work, so he had a slightly better chance than most.” HolyMoly
“Outkast star Big Boi has revealed that he has spoken to Kate Bush about the possibility of recording a duet with her for his new album. Big Boi has long spoken about his admiration for the reclusive star … It is believed that Big Boi wants to record a duet with Bush for the follow up to his 2009 album ‘Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty’, due later this year.” Gigwise.
“A posting from Big Boi has led to speculation that he is set to work with Kate Bush. essentially, it’s all about supply and demand. Decrease the supply, and logically demand will increase. Kate Bush almost never performs live, rarely releases new material and scarcely collaborates with other artists. Hell, the iconic English artist even turned down the Olympics, refusing to appear in the closing ceremony. However it seems that Kate Bush found Big Boi to be a rather more intriguing proposition. The rapper is an enormous fan of the singer, and has been attempting to make contact for some time.” Clash Music
We certainly have time for a man who has his own line of socks.
| The Sun | NME | Exclaim | Digital Spy | Music Feeds |
giulio
Well, we’ll see . . . only time will tell 🙂
Decimus
I am thrilled for him. As a huge fan, I can imagine how he feels talking to Kate. A dream come true for him.
Rod
How exciting that KB can still surprise the hell out of us more than 30 years on.
mark
This could either be really good or really bad. But of course we won’t hear the results, if there are any, for a long time.
John
Happy for him, certainly a superfan and sure he is over the moon. Can’t say I’ve really heard any Outkast apart from that ‘Hey Yaa(?) single a few years back. Although to darken the tone slightly I have strong reservations about commercialised hip-hop in general: it’s rampant misogyny, glorification of mindless violence and crass, vulgar consumerism. I’m NOT saying this is true of Big Boi OR all rappers but for Kate to end up involved in something that might be even a little like that would be bloody awful. Not being ‘protective’ towards Kate, that would be delusional and absurd, just a music fan that can be too sensitive for my own good!
edov
Dont worry, Big Boi is cool and mkaes great music 🙂
Rod
I’m amazed so many Kate Bush fans are so detached from the wider spectrum of music. I would have thought that being open to Kate’s music, with it’s exotic and ecclectic mix of influences, would have lead many to a wider appreciation of other genres. I certainly credit her with broadening my horizons. A lot of the reservations about some Hip Hop is shared in the Hip Hop community, but there’s no reason to think what you call “commercialised hip-hop” can’t be melodic and beautiful and adventurous and lyrical. Where is the Love, by The Black Eyed Peas, with it’s added Justin Timberlake hook, is one of the best singles I have ever heard, bar none, and OutKast’s Ms Jackson, with its positive baby-daddy message, isn’t far behind it. Gangster’s Paradise was absolutely thrilling when it first came out, and old Songs in the Key of Life fans didn’t shout “you can’t mess with Stevie”, they embraced the evolution of that melody. You can be a Kate Bush fan, and a Lauren Hill fan, and a Janelle Monáe fan, all at the same time you know. As for Big Boi, he has no problems declaring his love for Kate Bush’s non hip-hop music, and I’ll bet Andre 3000 had a lot of Kate’s songs played at him (whether he liked it or not), so maybe there’s a lesson in musical tolerance there for all of us.
Aaron Davy
Brilliantly stated. I am a 42 year old fan of Kate Bush, and have been a fan since the late 70s when I was 9. I credit ‘Hounds of Love’ for opening up the possibilities of music for me, and as such, love a full range of music from hip-hop to country, from folk to pop, from nostalgic 1950s swing to contemporary electronica. If you love Kate Bush, and you love music… then I would hope one also has an open mind (even towards Big Boi or Lady Gaga for that matter).
arosegrowingold
IMHO, potty-mouthed, tuneless, pernicious drivel that encourages a pattern of misogynist, atavistic behaviour among young black men (and white wannabe ‘gangstas’). The very antithesis of Kate’s music:
“Look at the way he treats me”, shit, look at the way you treat me
See your lil’ no-ass homegirls got them ass up in the creek
Without a paddle, you left the straddle, and ride this thing on out
And the union girl ain’t speakin no more ’cause my dick’s all in her mouth
Well, it makes a change from Emily Bronte, doesnt it?
Peter
Some rap music certainly does that. But not all. I love the evident delight in the sounds of words that some rap music has. it’s poetry Jim, but not as we know it.
On the other hand the mysognistic label can equally be applied to some classic pop songs sung by male rock and pop artists. The Beatles, Stones, and Bob Dylan are not entirely innocent.
arosegrowingold
Well, quite – I accept it is rhyming verse (I’d not call Mr Boi’s effort I posted above, ‘poetry’) set to a beat, but it’s not ‘music’
And just because everyone writes women-hating songs, doesn’t make it acceptable. Plenty of people enjoy trolling on the internet, but that’s equally reprehensible.
Now if she collaborates on a rap based on Paul Gallico’s ‘The Snow Goose’, that would be worth hearing…
Peter
There is no argument that mysogyny is acceptable, simply that not all rap is mysogynistic and not all non-rap is not mysogynistic. You can’t easily make generalisations about an entire musical genre, though of course you can point out particular unacceptable examples in all forms of popular music, not all from the pre-feminist 1960s. Some classical operas have some pretty violent themes.
I always thought Kate could do an interesting collaboration with Atilla the Stockbroker.
arosegrowingold
I’m with Stephen Fry on Hip Hop: http://videosift.com/video/Stephen-Fry-on-Hip-Hop-and-R-B
I’m willing to be persuaded by Kate, but I can’t help but notice that while misogynist themes do crop up in great literature (Hardy), cinema (Hitchcock) and music (Mozart), they are ubiquitous in the genre of Hip Hop. IMHO if you take a morally relativist attitude and you tolerate it, you are condoning it – sorry but I think this stuff is egregious. I’d sooner she collaborated with Peter Andre (but that’s not a suggestion).
John
Sorry, didn’t mean to ‘troll’ or offend anyone before, but I AM open and receptive to all forms of music in general, but being receptive and having preferences are NOT mutually exclusive, and it’s entirely possible to ‘get’ music without necessarily feeling obliged to like it. I didn’t mean any disrespect to Big Boi, I think I admitted I didn’t know about him, I just meant that a lot of hip-hop is pretty unpleasant, which is just a personal opinion not some anti-eclecticism agenda. As a fan of Kate’s for 27 years (I’m 36), I was just being a bit on the precious side, that’s all!
Well, if anything DOES come of this, it should certainly be interesting!
Peter
I’d agree that some hip-hop is very unpleasant (also my opinion). So was some punk. But some punks also loved Kate, as John Lydon still does. I look forward to seeing the product of this collaboration.
Elizabeth
Regardless of how you feel about hip-hop music, it truly speaks to Kate’s singular genius that she has the wide spectrum of admirers/fans that she does, and how her music speaks to us all, if one listens.
arosegrowingold
Kate is like a mirror, in that the quality of her work makes some ‘artists’ recognise themselves as juvenile, crude trend-followers in comparison.
Unsurprisingly, in response to the realisation of their own inadequacies, they try to jump on the hem of her skirt and hope some of her genius will rub off on them.
There is always flotsam in the wake of a pioneer…
Nanette
Rap isn’t really meant to be read on the page, which is why the lyrics may seem unimpressive when quoted. The emphasis is not on producing images: rap puts a lot of emphasis on word stress and rhythm–something that is as important to traditional poetry as image. (Look at Gerard Manley Hopkins’ use of sprung rhythm, for example.) Analyzing images is the “fun” stuff, which is why classroom discussions gravitate towards it. Metrical foot (feet?) is just as important–Shakespeare wouldn’t be Shakespeare without iambic pentameter. The meters rap uses are quite complex, which you’d know if you’ve ever tried to recite a rap song from memory. I remember trying to mimic “The Message” — an early rap recorded by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. It took me a while to get the spoken rhythm right–and I dare anyone who thinks rap is just “noise” to repeat a verse of this relatively slow rap correctly.
Yes, mainstream rap has more than its share of misogyny. At the same time, however, early rap, in particular, was about the social and political conditions people found themselves in. When I taught first year university, I allowed students to analyze rap songs when we did a unit on poetry. Most of them did bang up jobs on analyzing rhythm and political allusions. Once they did that, they could make a connection to Auden, at all.
Of course there are bad rap lyrics, just as there are bad pop lyrics. But I would argue that “Hey Ya” has a subtlety to it that most people miss. It sounds like a dance tune about sex, (“Don’t wanna meet your daddy/Just want you in my Caddy”) but it’s much more than that. In the beginning, it says: “”If If what they say is “nothing lasts forever’/then what makes love the exception?/Why are we so in denial/When we know we’re not happy here?/(Aw, you don’t want to hear me, you just want to dance.)” In just a few words, the song talks about why people stay with a relationship that isn’t working. Then, there’s an acknowledgement–this is a pop tune, and nobody wants complex emotions from a pop tune. They “just wanna dance”.
Nanette
Excuse me–that should be et. al..
I’d suggest avoiding the condescending “Mr. Boi”. His real sir name is Patton, if you want to get that formal. Yes, I know that he picked “Big Boi” himself, and yes I recognize that you may think it’s ridiculous. But saying things like “Mr. Boi” leaves one open to charges of racism, since “boy” was a common epithet used to address black men of all ages and occupations back in the day. (I’m definitely NOT accusing you, by the way, since I’m sure people in England would not know this.) I’m sure that Patton chose “Big Boi” to indicate that he was all grown up–an important distinction for a musician trying to prove himself in high school. “Boy” and even “Mr. Boi” is another matter entirely.
I think that Kate may have contacted him because she is interested in exploring the way rap uses rhythm. Jamie Cullen asked her if her relationship to rhythm had changed, and I think he was on to something. She’s coming back to the place where many of her contemporaries started. “50 Words For Snow” was her take on jazz. She took what interested her, and transformed it, in true Bushian fashion. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did the same thing with rap.
Fans draw hard and fast lines between genres, but musicians–good musicians–don’t. That’s why the members of OutKast listen to Kate Bush, and why Lionel Ritchie is now recording country music.
arosegrowingold
Well, I was calling him ‘Mr Boi’ in the same mocking way that Freddie Mercury used to call Sid Vicious ‘Sidney Ferocious”, so I’m quite happy to be accused of racism, as it’s the last thing on my mind. And, I am forced to point out, that is his choice of nick-name.
I like your idea of Kate taking hip-hop and transmuting it, like base metal into gold, but as far as I can tell, Mr Patton has a track to finish off for his album which is due soon and wants a ‘name’, a marketing gimmick and some attention for his faltering career, so I’m not particularly encouraged.
Rod
Where are you getting this “faltering career” from? You clearly have no idea how talented and well-respected Big Boi is in the music business, and in business in general. There’s no need for that sort of nastiness. Big Boi solo, and with OutKast, can get top 5 hits in the US general chart and R&B chart. That’s a pretty exclusive neighbourhood, and I think it’s the sort of neighbourhood a lot of KB fans would like to see her move into.
Nanette
I see a few typos in that last post! Sorry.
Daniel
This could be interesting, I hope that it’s true! I don’t think Kate would be featured on a track that contains that kind of language anyway. This is very exciting! Fingers crossed 🙂
Nanette
Please read my post more carefully, rosegrowingold–I did NOT accuse you of racism AT ALL. I indicated that yes, the name was his choice, and said why he probably chose it. Then I talked about how alterations like “Mr. Boi” could be negatively construed by some Americans. (Not all Americans, BTW–so please don’t jump on my back.)
I would never make such a serious accusation lightly. Disliking/dismissing a kind of music does not make one racist.
I DIDN’T SAY YOU WERE RACIST, ok? How’s that?
Nanette
I did say that you were condescending, but condescension is certainly not the same is racism. If I thought you were being racist, I would out and out say so.
arosegrowingold
OK, I don’t want to clog up what is quite an interesting discussion about Kate’s music with lots of nonsense about who’s wounded whose feelings (I’d go on the forum if I wanted that), so let’s say that I am very proud to be hugely condescending towards Andre Patton and all his works and that’s an end of it.
Kate as alchemist, though, that really has a ring to it, you know
Adrian
Ever listened to Ran Tan Waltz? That’s not really a female-friendly take on the matter, is it? And her picking on a dick that’s too big for her pride is just the 80s way of singing about stuff such as …cause my dick’s all in her mouth…
But the real point here is that Kate is no fool, I don’t think, and only does what she wants to do. She doesn’t appear to be the type who would fall for someone needing a big name to crank up sales of a new forthcoming album. If there’s any collaberation going on, it’ll be with her wholehearted consent, in other words: ‘coz she wants it to happen.
Nanette
Well, there’s Antwon Patton the rapper and businessman, and Antwon Patton the dog breeder who lives with his wife and kids in rural Georgia. In other words, the person we think we “know”, and the person he actually is. Hip hop can be quite a macho culture, and the fact that he is open about admiring Kate’s work really says something positive about him as a person and an artist. A lot of disparaging comments have been directed at him by hip hop fans who don’t think his interest in Kate is “manly”. She’s too this, or too that for them. Still, he sticks by his assertions, and is extravagant in his praise. Listening (or looking at, or reading) work that is so different from your own shows a real desire to grow intellectually and artistically. (Did anyone know that rapper Ice Cube studied architectural drafting before he became a rapper? Me neither. I didn’t know that until I heard that Ice Cube recently narrated a video on architecture.)
I used to really look down on heavy metal. The fans I went to school with were misogynistic, homophobic ****s, and the music was unintelligible to me. . . . Then I grew up, and started to learn about it. I’m still not a fan, and I still don’t listen to it, but I can understand something of the craft behind it. I caught a glimpse of what they were trying to do.
Things are always more multifaceted than we realize. That’s why when I go to an art gallery, or listen to music, I try to consider it carefully before I reject it out of hand. (And if you condemn all rap music as misogynistic, homophobic violence, where does that leave Missy Elliot? Or Queen Latifah? Those are some mighty big names to account for, right there.)
Nanette
And for what it’s worth, Missy Elliot and “Big Boi” collaborated. Missy Elliot would NOT take any crud! 🙂
cwg
Thanks for all this nanette… I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts on this subject and have learnt a little something about Patton/Boi.
Anyone who admires Kate to such lengths can’t be all that bad in my books and definitely worth a deeper look 🙂
John
Not the best Kate news I could have heard, but definitely a curio for the Kate catalogue if it happens. Hard to imagine it possibly been worse than My Computer.
terry
It would be very interesting to know what specific songs by Kate “BigBoi” likes. I bet “Get Out Of My House” isn’t one of them.
Nanette
Why would you say that?
Terry
Just reacting to the quote a rosegrowingold mentioned the macho stance of Big Boi in that lyric seemed to revolve around the self assurance he was so attractive his “hoe” would P.M.S. [Put up with Male – you know] Wouldn’t it have been a shock if she finally didn’t [like the character in “Get Out of My House”].
terry
Just had a read through Big Boi’s complete lyrics online. There’s some surprisingly “sensitive” and dare I say it “responsible” expression there alongside the ugly verbal violence but I suppose that’s the trick undermining an anti-social attitude by seeming to agree with it and then inserting subtle hints in some of your lyrics encouraging your fans to eventually question that attitude for themselves.
Nanette
You may not like rap music–and I’m not a big fan myself–but I can hear that rappers do something interesting with “beats” (that is, drums) and vocal rhythms. Nobody seems to want to admit that something they don’t like may, nonetheless, be innovative or have musical value.
Although rap is mainstream, this discussion reminds me of something about the origins of pop music in general. In the old days Robert Johnson et. al. were just these hicks in rough dives who sang simple and repetitive songs and couldn’t read music. Then someone came along and said, “Hey…this sounds interesting. Let’s build on it.” It took some inventive and open minds to do that.
Thank God for Kate’s inventiveness. Thank God for her imagination.
Rob
If Big Boi is going to keep shooting his mouth off everytime Kate’s phones him then its highly unlikely any collaboration will ever occur. Whilst Mica Paris knew how to keep quiet when asked, i can’t see Big Boi being able to do so.
Peter Verkooijen
Big Boi has recently already recorded a track with Little Dragon. Yukimi Nagano is also a big Kate Bush fan and KB has said in an interview she had the last Gorillaz album, which also featured Little Dragon.
Outkast are way beyond just hip hop; they are very inventive musicians. Look for a later OutKast track like ‘Morris Brown’ and you’ll get an idea how awesome a Kate Bush collabo could sound.
OutKast is from the same scene as Ceelo Green, who went from rap with Goodie Mob to soul with Gnarls Barkley and solo.
If you don’t know these names, google them, listen to the YouTube etc.