Liner Notes · No. 018
"Hey Ya!" by OutKast: the B-side
Quick hall pass: the song your whole wedding danced to got a Polaroid fact-check, a Scrubs a cappella, a viral open-mic ballad and a Rock Hall induction. Here's the B-side.
📰 FAST FACTS
- The 2014 reunion kicked off a 20th-anniversary run of about 40 festivals, including Governors Ball, Lollapalooza and three hometown shows at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. (Music Feeds)
- The Rock Hall tribute lineup with Big Boi: Janelle Monáe, Doja Cat, Killer Mike, JID, Tyler, the Creator and Sleepy Brown. (theGrio)
- In October 2023, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was reported as the highest-selling hip-hop album of all time, certified Diamond (13x platinum, each disc counted). Double albums: the original cheat code. (theGrio)
- André took New Blue Sun on the road in 2024. Flute, no bars. (Complex)
On this record
TRACK 1 · The cameo
Polaroid, Scrubs, Just Dance and a Lip Sync Battle
Polaroid said don't shake it, and admitted everyone does anyway. Then came Scrubs, Just Dance and John Legend with Stevie Wonder.
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The fact-check: You saw the pop-up. Here's the fine print. In February 2004, Polaroid's website explained that modern Polaroid film doesn't need shaking, because the image develops behind a plastic window, and that shaking it hard can actually distort the picture. The habit came from the older peel-apart film, which had to dry. A spokesman also admitted that almost everybody shakes it anyway. Reuters ran the story and CNN carried it on February 17, 2004. A camera company lost an argument to a chorus, and knew it.
The hospital: On Scrubs, the "Hey Ya" fans remember is an a cappella version by The Blanks, the real group behind Ted's band on the show. It's often called "the Scrubs version." One writer says its arrangement borrows from Obadiah Parker's acoustic cover, which you'll meet on Side B.
The living room: The original is in the Just Dance series, starting with Just Dance 2 in 2010 and carrying on into Just Dance Now, Unlimited and Just Dance+. It was the first OutKast song in the franchise. Somewhere a 2010 Wii remote is still flying through a TV screen because of this song.
The tribute: In September 2016, on Spike's Lip Sync Battle, John Legend recreated the video as André, with Stevie Wonder sitting in on piano. Paste called it epic. Slate called it a wan imitation. Critics: still unable to just enjoy Stevie Wonder at a party.
That's the song's TV life. Now one about its Hall of Fame night. Quiz time.
Who sang "Hey Ya!" when OutKast entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2025?
No Googling. We'll know.
That's Side A. Flip the tape.
Side B is where it gets weird:
- The night it closed the 2004 Grammys, the OutKast reunion at Coachella, and the Rock Hall tribute.
- The covers: a viral open-mic ballad, a ballroom version and Panic! At the Disco.
- André 3000's flute album, its Album of the Year nomination, and whether OutKast has anything new coming.
Free, every Tuesday. One song, the story you never heard, and a 10-minute hall pass from the doomscroll. Already subscribed? Enter your email to unlock.
▶ SIDE B
TRACK 2 · The live one
The Grammys, Coachella and the Rock Hall
Album of the Year night at the 2004 Grammys, a Coachella reunion closer, and Janelle Monáe singing it at the 2025 Rock Hall induction.
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2004, the Grammys: On February 8, 2004, OutKast closed the 46th Grammy telecast with "Hey Ya!" That night Speakerboxxx/The Love Below became only the second hip-hop album ever to win Album of the Year, after The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The performance's staging, with dancers in Native American-style costumes around a green teepee, hurt Native viewers. It drew protests from Native groups and an apology from CBS.
2014, Coachella: On April 11, 2014, OutKast reunited to headline Coachella's first weekend, their first shared stage in 7 or 8 years (sources differ). They closed the 90-minute set with "Hey Ya!" Seven or eight years apart, and the crowd still knew every word. Your college group chat can't agree on a dinner date.
2025, the Rock Hall: As the quiz spoiled, Janelle Monáe sang "Hey Ya!" in the tribute medley at OutKast's induction on November 8, 2025, with Big Boi and guests. André 3000 was there and didn't perform. The guy who played eight band members took the night off. He'd earned it.
TRACK 3 · Cover watch
One coffee-shop ballad broke the internet
Obadiah Parker's open-mic ballad went viral in 2006. Postmodern Jukebox and Panic! At the Disco took their turns. Vote below.
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- 2006 · Obadiah Parker. Mat Weddle slowed it down to a fingerpicked acoustic ballad at an open mic night in Tempe, Arizona. A friend cut it together with the original video and posted it to YouTube in August 2006. It went viral, got played on Howard Stern, and topped iTunes singer-songwriter charts in several countries. Every open-mic guy with a capo has been chasing this since.
- 2015 · Postmodern Jukebox feat. Sara Niemietz. A vintage ballroom rework with piano, baritone sax and backup singers, on the album Top Hat on Fleek (September 2015). An album title that is now, itself, vintage.
- 2018 · Panic! At the Disco. Recorded for Spotify's Sessions series, announced October 17, 2018, alongside a stripped-down "High Hopes." Taking on André's chorus with no costume changes. Brave.
▶ WATCH THE CONTENDERS
Battle of the versions: which "Hey Ya!" wins?
Cast your vote. Results in the next issue. Choose carefully: we're judging you.
TRACK 4 · Where are they now
Where André 3000 and Big Boi are now
Rock Hall class of 2025, a flute album up for Album of the Year, and still no new OutKast album.
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The Hall: On November 8, 2025, OutKast were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, the first Southern rap group to get in. Donald Glover inducted them.
The flute: In November 2023, André 3000 released New Blue Sun, his first solo album and his first album of any kind since 2003. It's an instrumental, flute-driven record with no rapping at all. He told AP there was nothing he liked enough to rap about. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys on February 2, 2025, up against Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, plus two jazz and composition nominations. Twenty years after "Hey Ya!" he's in the same category again, holding a flute. Most of us got a minivan.
The band: No new OutKast album has been announced. Big Boi has said for years there are no plans for one, and the 2026 rumors of new André or Big Boi albums came from a gossip site that later flagged them as false.
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