OutKast’s “So Fresh, So Clean” is still one of the group’s biggest hits, but it nearly had a completely different sound, as revealed by Sleepy Brown.
In an interview with SPIN regarding the creation of the Stankonia hit, the Organized Noize producer/songwriter disclosed that it was initially a solo Big Boi track since André 3000 opted not to participate.
The amusing part is that André initially wasn’t very fond of it. André wasn’t fond of that album,” he mentioned. “It’s not that he thought it was bad — it simply didn’t align with his current state.” We genuinely only did it for Big.
“We understood that André was shifting to a different direction, but we realized that the album required that street vibe.” Upon hearing it, Big adored it. We initially believed Dre would be pleased with it, but he actually wasn’t.
It was only after bass player Preston Crump contributed his flair to the track that 3 Stacks experienced a shift in perspective.
“When Dre heard that, he became thrilled and created the part about ‘the coolest motherfunkers on the planet,’” Brown went on. “He was pursuing the path he listened to.” Due to Preston, that’s why Dre was able to get on that track.
The Dungeon Family co-founder further described the creation of “So Fresh, So Clean,” attributing the catchy hook to Rico Wade, a fellow member of Organize Noize who tragically passed away last year.
“I truly thought of the concept and headed to the Dungeon, played a small piano melody for Rico,” he stated. “He was quite eloquent with his language and everything, so instead of me composing it, I requested him to do it.” And I thought, ‘I’m simply going to create a melody for it.’
“After I completed that and handed it to him, he paid attention to it.” The following morning, he shared that he was in the shower enjoying it and began to sing the phrase ‘so fresh and so clean, clean.’ “It seemed like an advertisement, yet I realized it was unique solely because of him.”
Any expectations of receiving another “So Fresh, So Clean”-type track (or any new content, for that matter) from OutKast were shattered last month when André 3000 revealed that he and Big Boi are “further away than ever” from coming together again.
When questioned about the possibility of a new OutKast album during an interview with Rolling Stone, he stated: “I’ll mention that around 10 or 15 years ago, I believed an OutKast album would come to fruition. I can’t predict the future, but I can state that we are more distant from it than we’ve ever been.
“I believe it’s related to chemistry.” We must have the desire to do it. It’s challenging for me to create a rap, that’s for sure, you know? “And at times I hold the belief of ‘Let things happen.'”
He said: “It’s not as if we’re Coca-Cola, where you have this formula that you can simply activate, and it will occur. I believe the spectators have that sentiment. However, the audience is never aware of the effort involved in producing what they receive. “I cannot hold them responsible for that.”
