Big Boi Talks New Music, His Love for Neil Young and 'Pants on the Ground'

By Mike Hess Posted Jul 1st 2010 11:15AM

As Big Boi preps for the July 6 release of his solo effort, titled 'Sir Lucious Leftfoot,' PopEater was able to catch up with the music savant, who gladly answered a few of our burning questions. What exactly is on the iPod of the man who's one-half responsible for OutKast -- perhaps the most innovative and boundary-slaughtering group of the last two decades? Surprisingly, Big Boi gets down to Neil Young in his spare time because, as he puts it, "Everything plays a part in the music I make. I'm glad it was like that because you're not just in tunnel-vision." Watch the video below, where he also does his own little version of 'Pants on the Ground' that shouldn't be missed.

On high expectations for his music and his new 'Shutterbug' video: "Once you record a song just to add the visual is to get everything to sync up. Of course, you want it to do well, but you want to make yourself feel good about it. If you feel good about it, just give it to the people and let them decide."

On OutKast's scope and crossover appeal: "OutKast is definitely in a whole other dimension. That's the true meaning of our name -- [it] is to be apart from the norm. We pride ourselves on being able to come up with original content and some of the funkiest music on the planet. You can't put us in no category."

His iPod Favorites: "Definitely Kate Bush. There's not a lot of people that listen to her. Her and Bob Marley are tied as my best artists of all time. That, and also Neil Young. I listen to all types of music. Growing up, there were no boundaries for me. Everything plays a part in the music I make. I'm glad it was like that because you're not just in tunnel-vision."

Musical guilty pleasures: "One guilty pleasure I do got is that General Larry Platt's 'Pants on the Ground.' My kids love that. We dance to it real hard."

Chances of an OutKast-Bieber collaboration: "I don't know if we can ever expect an OutKast-Bieber jam, but he is doing his thing. He's doing real good and to each his own."