Others in the performance category include Bad Company, Chubby Checker, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Soundgarden and The White Stripes.
In the Musical Influence Award category are Salt-n-Pepa and Warren Zevon, while Thom Bell, Nicky Hopkins and Carol Kaye are in the Musical Excellence Award category. Producer Lenny Waronker will be honoured with the Ahmet Ertegun Award. Outkast’s impact on Hip-Hop is both foundational and transformative. Together with the production trio Organized Noize—fellow Dungeon Family members Rico Wade, Sleepy Brown and Ray Murray—André 3000 and Big Boi fundamentally shifted the genre’s sound, geography and cultural reach. Emerging from Atlanta in the early ’90s, Outkast brought Southern Hip-Hop to national prominence at a time when the genre was dominated by East and West Coast artists.
Their debut album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, was realized at Wade’s mother’s house, which they christened “The Dungeon.” It gave Atlanta a voice and sparked what many consider the city’s rap renaissance, inspiring a new generation of Southern artists and making Atlanta a major hub for Hip-Hop innovation. Outkast’s meteoric success proved that great rap could come from anywhere, breaking down geographic barriers and allowing artists from previously overlooked regions to gain recognition.