The best rapper from all 50 states

Georgia

Artist – Outkast

Years Active – 1992-Present

Notable Album – Stankonia (2000)

Sample Rhyme (from the track “Ms. Jackson”):

“Me and your daughter got a special thing going on

You say it’s puppy love, we say it’s full-grown

Hope that we feel this, feel this way forever

You can plan a pretty picnic

But you can’t predict the weather, Ms. Jackson”

—

We’ll take the opposite approach with Georgia than we did with California. Instead of naming an artist more popular today, we’re going down to the foundations of modern rap, not just in Georgia but across the genre.

Outkast — a duo consisting of André 3000 and Big Boi — released their first album in 1994, and over the next decade would change rap’s DNA.

Their style embodied Atlanta, the city from which they hailed. It was psychedelic, playful and unique. Their music was conscientious and smart, paying respect to community, women and themselves in equal measure, and they still had fun with it. Songs like “B.O.B” and “Ms. Jackson” could appear on the air for the first time in 2016 and still be tremendous hits.

The duo’s success also turned Atlanta into a dominant force in the rap ecosystem and elevated southern rap across the board. Outkast might not make new music together anymore, but they remain living legends.

Next: Hawaii