OutKast Win Album of the Year at 2004 Grammy Awards – Today in Hip-Hop
XXL celebrates 50 years of hip-hop with this moment:
Feb. 8, 2004: OutKast won three Grammys at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards for their masterful double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, on this day in 2004. Two of the golden gramophones they went home with that night were for Best Rap Album and the coveted Album of the Year, which is the first time that specific award had ever gone to a rap group.
OutKast's album bested Under Construction by Missy Elliott, Fallen by Evanescence, Justified by Justin Timberlake and Elephant by The White Stripes for the coveted AoTY trophy.
The Atlanta duo's double album, which for the most part, serves as separate solo albums for both 3 Stacks and Sir Lucious Left Foot, was released on Sept. 8, 2003. The collection debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for the week of Oct. 11, 2003. On the project, ’Kast took a different approach, offering fans two solo albums that gave a look at their unique musical perspective.
The LP released two singles simultaneously: "The Way You Move," from Big Boi’s Speakerboxx, and "Hey Ya!," from Andre 3000’s The Love Below, both of which reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The album that served as OutKast's most commercially successful project would also go on to have another hit single, "Roses," which features the duo doing what they do best: performing together. Over the course of the 19 years since Speakerboxxx/The Love Below hit the streets, the groundbreaking project has been certified diamond and 11 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
OutKast would follow up the success of Speakerboxx/The Love Below with the feature film, Idlewild, in 2006. The musical film features many songs from their dual album and was accompanied by a soundtrack that debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified platinum. Though OutKast has worked here and there on random tracks and remixes since taking a hiatus, that soundtrack would be their last group album to date.
Back in 2014, André 3000 and Big Boi reunited for an international festival tour, much to the surprise of their fans.