When you listen to Kate Bush, do you ever think about Big Boi at all? On the surface, it seems ludicrous to suggest that the same person that made “Rosa Parks” might find their inspiration in Hounds Of Love. The twangy southern heat you would find on an Outkast song reaching all the way over to Kent, England can feel especially far-fetched.
However, Big Boi’s love for Kate Bush and her music is incredibly well documented up to this point. Apparently, it all started with his uncle Russell. He was incredibly interested in bands like Sting, The Doors, Guns N’ Roses, and, obviously, Kate Bush. Meanwhile, his dad was hip to the early days of hip-hop, like Run DMC and Whodini and his mom had a huge affinity for Bob Marley and Patti LaBelle. “I loved the production first and foremost because it kind of set a tone. Then, the way she was singing the songs— her voice was just angellic. I hadn’t heard nobody do it like that,” Big Boi told Pitchfork.
Then, in a 2004 interview captured by The Guardian, he revealed that “Babooshka” was his ringtone at the time. “I consider me and Dre to be funkateers, man. Growing up, we listened to everything and I think that gives us the ability to make a free-flowing type of music. It doesn’t matter whether it’s country, reggae or rock and roll. Kate Bush is my favorite artist of all time,” he said before his phone went off.
Big Boi and His Dream Collab
Back in 2003, the Atlanta legend made it especially clear how deep his love for Kate Bush went, naming her as his dream collaboration. “I’m lookin’ for Kate Bush, man! For real!” he said in an interview at the time. “My uncle introduced me to Kate Bush’s music when I was about 14 years old, and that s–t opened my mind up. The first one I got was The Kick Inside, then I bought The Hounds Of Love. Then The Sensual World…“
This devotion towards Bush and her music all eventually culminated in Big Boi inducting her into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. “I was that kid from ‘Stranger Things’,” he quipped to the audience. “It does not surprise me at all that Kate has enjoyed a huge surge in popularity decades after she emerged on the scene. I know that some of you are thinking, ‘What does Kate Bush have to do with hip-hop?’”
“What I love about Kate’s music is that I never know what sound I’m going to hear next,” Big Boi continued. Then, he reflected on her many albums and never knowing what to expect from her next creative endeavor. “They sound fresh and surprising every time. They fill my head with ideas and expand my ambitions for what music can achieve. Kate is a songwriter, producer, and performer without equal. If that’s not hip-hop, I don’t know what is.”
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