Big Boi

Atlanta indisputably set the pace for modern hip-hop. However, Big Boi set the pace for Atlanta, and by proxy, the culture at large. If the genre of hip-hop ever gets its own "Rap Mount Rushmore," a legacy as the region's foremost wordsmith, funkiest gentleman, and resident ATLien certainly guarantees a place for the diamond selling artist, rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor, philanthropist born Antwan André Patton. Big made history as the preeminent spitter of the Dungeon Family and one-half of OutKast. The legendary duo sold 25 million albums and garnered seven GRAMMY® Awards, becoming the first and only hip-hop artist in history to win the GRAMMY® for "Album of the Year" upon release of their 2003 RIAA Diamond-certified Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. Big Boi made his proper introduction as a solo artist in 2010 with Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. A modern classic, it captured #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and landed on Pitchfork's "100 Best Albums of the Decade 'So Far.'" Following a succession of high-profile album releases, Big Boi released his most recent album Boomiverse in 2017. The smash single "All Night" sound tracked a high-profile Apple Animoji commercial, blew up radio, and clocked 40 million streams within a year. The song also hit the Top 30 on the pop chart and Top 10 at Rhythmic. In addition to his music career, the Hip-Hop legend recently announced that he will be the executive producer for a new crime series titled Government Records. He also signed a deal with Bread and Butter Content Studio to produce Big Boi's Gotta Eat, an upcoming series to find the freshest seafood and unique food culture coast to coast, with an energy that only Big Boi can bring.

Arriving on the scene in 2014 with her mixtape Laugh Now, Die Later, Kari has created her own lane of southern rap infused with psych, gospel, pop and hip hop weaved with her thoughtful and playful lyrics. In 2020, Kari released her praised mixtape Lowkey Superstar, which features the stand out tracks "LOOK AT THAT" and "CHATTIN' SHIT." The following year, Kari dropped Lowkey Superstar Deluxe, which Pitchfork described as a "fun-forward mixtape exud[ing] color and energy" and enlisted assistance from friends and artists like Baby Tate, Smino, JID, Jazz Cartier and Deante' Hitchcock.

 

Little Rock's multidimensional artist Kari Faux has shared her new single "TURNIN' HEADS" featuring a verse from the legendary Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T. The new song pays homage to the southern rap Kari listened to while growing up in Arkansas laced with a funky bassline and cascading piano complimenting her and Big K.R.I.T.'s vocals. Coupled with the new track is the visualizer animated by McKay Felt, who created the track artwork for both "TURNIN HEADS" and the the previously released "ME FIRST." "TURNIN' HEADS" provides a taste of a larger project from Kari to arrive later this year.

 

Speaking about the song and working with Big K.R.I.T., Kari notes,"This song is a time machine that takes me back to growing up and living in the South. Just getting paid, hitting the town and seeing cars with candy paint and big rims and aspiring to have that one day for myself. It was an honor to have Big K.R.I.T. as a feature because he was one of the rappers that inspired me coming up and made me feel proud to be country."

 

"TURNIN" HEADS" follows Kari's first offering of 2023 "ME FIRST," which premiered on COLORS last year and arrived with cheeky and meta visuals directed by Cam Robert. "ME FIRST" is produced by Grammy Award winning artist Phoelix, 2forwOyNE and Park Ave and was remixed by the producer, rapper, DJ and singer UNIIQU3, who brought some East Coast flavor to the track with her Jersey Club remix. Kari sat with PAPER to discuss "ME FIRST," falling in love with making music again and the southern rappers who came before her.