Andre 3000 has never been known to spit a whack verse. Ever since Outkast’s debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, Andre 3000 a.k.a Dre or 3 Stacks has been spitting vicious flows, changing up his style over the years, but remaining one of the premier lyricists in the game. His storytelling prowess in particular is unique and unmatched. Check out his ten best verses below.
10.) UGK – International Players Anthem
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This is a track that everyone is familiar with: the “International Players Anthem.” Out of everyone on this track, I think Dre had the best verse–no disrespect to the late great Pimp C. He spits this verse as if he were having a conversation with his homies, and they were trying to convince him to not get married. It all meshed well, and Dre did his thing with this one!
9.) Goodie Mob feat. – Thought Process
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As Andre closes out the opening track of Goodie Mob’s debut album Soul Food (1995), he speaks on the daily struggles and issues in this world. He goes on to explain that he was only living for the day, and not the future. Andre 3000 did a great job of capturing this audience with this intriguing verse.
8.) Andre 3000 – A Life In The Day of Benjamin Andre
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This is a verse that summarized his whole career. It was the outro of the only work that could be chalked up as a solo project– The Love Below (2003). He discusses his relations with Erykah Badu, Outkast, cars, and everything else that he hadexperienced throughout his adult life. Although we never got the completed version of this track, it still remains as one of his best verses.
7.) Outkast – ATLiens
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One of the most timeless Outkast tracks of all time. The hook is a classic, but Andre’s verse takes the track to another level.
6.) Outkast – Da Art of Storytellin’ (Part 1)
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Here, Dre tells the story of a girl he knew named Sasha: He was close friends with her, but they ended up getting older and grew apart. He later found out that Sasha was with a man who was treating her wrong. Dre hoped that one day he would see Sasha again, but she was found dead, seven months pregnant. It’s not just the drama of the story, but the way that Andre phrases it that makes this one of the best story tracks of all time. “It’s like that now, you better gon get the hump up out ya back now. It’s bout 4, 5 cats off in my ‘Lac now.”
5.) Big Boi feat. Andre 3000– Royal Flush
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Now this track was only about 3 minutes long, but Andre shines through a full two of them. Dre pretty much drove the car on this one, and Big Boi and Rae (also featured) took the backseat.
4.) Outkast – Return Of The G
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After taking the hiatus from weed and alcohol before ATLiens, Andre changed his style of dress, which led to people questioning his sexuality. With this verse, he addressed everything that was going on, as well as all that is buried in the word “gangster.”
3.) Outkast – D.E.E.P.
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People often forget this track when they refer to Andre’s greatest verses, but listen: the way he slaughtered this beat was just unfair! He came in with a tongue twisting flow and witty bars and didn’t stop:“D.E.E.P., you want to go D.E.E.P., I’ll take ya D.E.E.P., you know you f*cked up when you let my mind creep.”
2.) Outkast – Babylon
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In the first verse of this track, Andre 3000 speaks on how his mother was on heavy drugs when she was pregnant with him. Although his first verse was only 40 seconds deep, he spoke about a lot in that short period of time. “I came into this world high as a bird, from second hand cocaine powder. I know it sounds absurd. I never tooted it, but its in my veins.”
1. ) Outkast – Elevators
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This is Andre 3000′s greatest lyrical performance of all time. The way he tells the story of seeing someone from high school was amazing. At the time, Outkast wasn’t as rich as everyone thought they were. They had a hit album, but they were still going through the same daily struggles as everyone else. “True, I got more fans than the average man, but not enough loot to last me ’til the end of the week. I live by the beat, like you live check to check.”
Source: RESPECT Mag
Dope list but no “Millennium” first verse on “Skew it on the Bar-B” or last verse on “Aquemini”.