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Big Boi makes a splash

At a hip-hop showcase Saturday, the less flashy side of the OutKast duo will dish out his intelligent, insightful raps.

It must be wild to be hip-hop star Big Boi, who headlines this weekend's Wildsplash 2004 in Clearwater. Half of the critically praised hip-hop duo OutKast, Big Boi, with his partner Andre 3000, was responsible for the much-ballyhooed Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Grammy winner for album of the year. Yet, Big Boi's style - both musically and personally - is less flashy and eccentric than that of his partner, who often sports platinum Elvis wigs, cowboy chaps and space-age costumes.

Big Boi has had to learn to bask in less limelight than outrageous Dre.

Which is a shame, really, because Big Boi, born Antoine Patton in 1975, packs just as much talent.

For every unconventional and groundbreaking OutKast single Dre dishes, such as Hey Ya!, Big Boi drops an uncompromising The Way You Move, a sturdy R&B jam that will also sound fresh in 20 years.

Big Boi acts as the stable yin to Dre's crazy yang - or for those of you not up on your Eastern philosophy: The two complement each other like peanut butter and jelly.

Big Boi, on his own, is yummy, too.

He gets props for his gravel-voiced delivery. The man is a terrific rapper, his rhymes filled with insight and intelligence. He told Spin last year that he devoted Speakerboxxx, his side of the double-disc album, to "ghetto music," funk, soul and old-school R&B.

"I wanted to be funky," Big Boi said, "but be talking about something."

Big Boi's contributions include the clever Tic-Tic-Boom, a song chronicling international tension. (Big Boi expressed concern in the article that U.S. soldiers in Iraq were using an older OutKast cut, B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad), to boost morale as they entered combat.)

The sexy The Way You Move features the rich vocals of Sleepy Brown, an upstart from the Dungeon Family, an OutKast offshoot.

Sleepy Brown also performs with Big Boi on Saturday. He's got a new single you may have heard, I Can't Wait, that's all over the radio.

Killer Mike, another OutKast protege, is on board for Wildsplash, too, all set to perform the club hits A.D.I.D.A.S. and AKshon.

-- Gina Vivinetto can be reached at 727 893-8565 or gina@sptimes.com

Wildsplash 2004, featuring OutKast's Big Boi, Buju Banton, Sleepy Brown and Killer Mike, T.I., T.O.K., Youngbloodz, JoJo and more, begins at noon Saturday, Coachman Park, Clearwater. $27. (813) 287-8844 or (727) 898-2100.