In addition to consistently pushing musical boundaries, the Atlanta duo OutKast has produced some of the most innovative hip-hop videos ever. Big Boi recently sat down with rolling out to break down the videos for “Players Ball,” “Elevator,” “B.O.B.” and “Shutterbugg.” –amir shaw
“Players Ball”
Director: Sean “Puffy” Combs
Album: Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik
Big Boi: That was our first music video. Puffy came down to Atlanta and directed it. We had been on video shoots before with TLC and Parental Advisory, but this was our own video. The [day] started out at the Dungeon [the Atlanta home inhabited by early members of the Dungeon Family] and ended up at Mr. V’s over there off of Campbellton Road. That was the last scene and it was raw. We just had a lot of fun with it.
“Elevators”
Director: Michael Mann
Album: ATLiens
Big Boi: The ‘Elevators’ video shoot was hot. We were in the swamps in Orlando and it was about 100 degrees outside. I just remember being super hot. But it was a great visual experience and that was like one of our first big-budget videos. We had cranes crushing cars, people walking through the woods and special effects. It was real fun and we had a nice concept.
“B.O.B. (Bombs Over Bagdad) “
Director: Bryan Barber
Album: Stankonia
Big Boi: Once again, it was hot for that shoot. It was 100 degrees and we were running through Bowen Homes projects and we had about 10 or 15 outfits a piece. We were wearing leather in the summertime and it was a lot of high energy. That’s like one of my favorite videos. That might be the favorite video we ever shot because there was a lot of action in it.
“Shutterbug”
Director: Chris Robinson
Album: Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Big Boi: It was like ‘Players Ball’ for me all over again because it was my first [solo] video and my stand-alone album. Chris Robinson directed the video. When I first read the treatment, Chris was like, ‘I like the way you killing the song. It’s like a machine and seems as if you’re not even real. It’s just straight lyrics.’ So, we painted a bigger picture of what the song really feels like.
