Andre 3000 and Chris Cornell

 I decided over the last two days to try to get back into writing for this more, namely so people can know my experiences.  My family recently got into ancestry.com and is trying to piece together my ancestor's lives, and I want the details of my life to be easier to find for future generations.  So, here are some of my experiences.

               Recently, my Mom talked about a stand-up comedienne whose 0-key broke on her computer and rather than spend $200 getting it fixed, simply searched for rapper Andre 3000 on Google, only needing to go to “Andre 3” before it would fill in the rest and she would always have 0s.  I actually was able to guess his name because I’m somewhat familiar with Andre 3000.  He is part of Atlanta-based Hip-Hop duo Outkast with a man named Big Boi, who made the song “Hey Ya.”  Andre 3000 himself sings that song and it’s famous for its repetition of “All right” so it goes “All right, All right, All right, All right, All right, All right, All right, All right, now ladies!” in fast tempo.  It’s also credited with introducing the world to the phrases “Hey, Fellas!  ‘Yeah!’  What’s cooler than bein’ cool?  ‘Ice Cold!’” and “Shake it like a Polaroid picture!”  In her 2014 tour, Miley Cyrus sang a medley of this song with Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”

 

               Andre 3000 also had a show on Cartoon Network in the mid-2000s called “Class of 3000,” which featured many different styles of music and very loose, rubbery and fluid animation.  The characters were depicted with stretchy limbs and the show had a very off-the-wall sense of humor, making it one of the better programs on the channel at the time.  A user on DeviantArt even drew Fire Emblem; Three Houses character Byleth in the style of the cartoon, because Andre 3000’s character was a music teacher, much like how Byleth is a Professor in the game.  Voice talent for the show beyond Andre 3000 included Tom Kenny (best known as the voice of SpongeBob Squarepants, but also voices the Mayor and Narrator in The Powerpuff Girls and Wheelie in the live-action Transformers movies), Phil Lamarr (The title character in Static Shock and the Green Lantern in Justice League) and Jeff Bennett (Johnny Bravo, Dexter’s Dad from Dexter’s Laboratory, Smee from modern cartoons featuring Captain Hook as well as half a million others).

 

               Andre 3000 has also been referenced in the web series Homestar Runner, in the cartoon “Halloween Fairstival,” clicking on Pom Pom dressed as the mascot for Big Boy Burgers has Coach Z comment, “So, Big Boy, Pom Pom?  I was going to be Andre 3000, myself!”  Obviously confusing Big Boy with Big Boi.  Years later, in the 2015 Halloween cartoon, “The House That Gave Sucky Tricks,” Coach Z does dress as Andre 3000, namely, his appearances in the “Hey Ya” music video, where he played every member of a band.  As such, Coach Z’s costume changes throughout the cartoon and rapidly in his Easter Egg, where he does the repetition of “All Right” and after saying “Now Ladies!” Marzipan says “No.” and Coach Z dejectedly says “All right…”

 

               On a somewhat sadder note, I wish I’d known of Soundgarden earlier.  The intense guitar work, clashing with the screams and understated emotions of lead singer Chris Cornell, they were one of the best bands to come from Seattle.  Chris Cornell was a Classic Rock fan who stepped into the next chapter of that phase and carried the torch himself, and he’s one of my top 5 singers from the Seattle area, alongside Geoff Tate, Duff McKagan, Brandi Carlile and Ann Wilson.  He had a great sense of humor, too, as he showed on the Live At The Artist’s Den Album.  He mentions the performance is being filmed for a PBS show called “Artist’s Den,” then doubts they’ll make it on they air, “If I were them, I’d be going ‘fuck that.  No one’s going to donate money for this.  They’re gonna cancel their checks!  ‘I was watching the history of President Van Buren and now this Soundgarden bullshit, I want my fucking check back!  My 8 dollars!’”  Later in the concert he states PBS stands for “Public Bitch Sessions” and proceeds to yell out several expletive-loaded sentences that the audience repeats back to him, “THIS IS BULLSHIT!”  “FUCK THIS SHIT!”  “FUCKIN’ HELL, I’M GLAD I GOT TO AIR THIS SHIT OUT IN PUBLIC!”  It is truly hilarious to me, thought maybe that’s because I wasn’t allowed to say such stuff growing up.