A massive mural of OutKast is Atlanta's newest tourist attraction. The 30-foot mural depicts a version of the famed hip-hop duo the world has not seen in at least a decade.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the mural, which is located in the Little Five Points neighborhood, shows Big Boi wearing an Atlanta Falcons jersey with his hair in cornrows and Andre 3000 shirtless with a bandanna tied around his press-and-curl.
"It's ATL all the way," muralist JEKS told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The North Carolina-based artist freehanded the piece, which he said took him about a week to complete.
JEKS was inspired to create the mural from a picture taken by photographer Jonathan Mannion, who was touched by the gesture.
"Honored to have my photos chosen to immortalize two of the best to ever do it," Mannion said on Instagram this weekend.
Mannion posted the pictures to his Instagram page recently to sell prints of the hip-hop duo.
Big Boi got wind of it and shouted out the "dope ass" mural on his own Instagram page.
The mural was created in collaboration with the Outerspace Project, an organization dedicated to enhancing public spaces.
The mural is already attracting attention, and JEKS is happy about it.
"Hopefully this turns into an Atlanta landmark," he said.
Nelson Madison, an Atlanta native who grew up watching OutKast's videos, summed up the city's fascination with the artwork.
"For me, it meant everything," Madison told the AJC. "To explain to somebody what home was. It was the embodiment of what home was. Even that video, if you didn't know what Atlanta was, if you had never been to the south, if you'd never been to the city before it represented my city."
We'll settle for this stunning art since we won't get an album anytime soon, especially from 3 Stacks. Rumors were swirling about a potential album from the "Hey Ya" rapper, but Big Boi and Sleepy Brown shut them down, according to OkayPlayer.
"Lies," Big Boi said. "Dre, he was probably playing some music but he's not working on a record. He's been recording songs for years."
"He personally hit us and said, 'Look man, if I was gonna do that, y'all would be the first to know," Brown said.
