“Two Dope Boyz” from Atlanta, Georgia will set the tone for a new course at Armstrong State University this month.

Andre “André 3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, together known as the ill duo Outkast will be the catalyst for a hip-hop curriculum taught by professor Regina Bradley. Students who sign-up for Bradley’s upper level English class will take a scholarly look at the group and their impact on Southern hip-hop.

Throughout the semester, students will listen to Outkast albums in order to deeply analyze and connect how their ideas about the South and southernness seep into other writers from the south. The concepts dissected from the music will also serve as talking points when examining their lyricism and its relation to political expression and social justice movements such as Black Lives Matter.

The goal of the course is to get students to think about the relationship between hip-hop, its messaging and the real world.

Their final project consists of picking a hip-hop album of their choice (would be dope if students choose one out of the six Outkast albums) and producing a 12-15 page paper discussing what they hear and the themes of the music.

Bradley’s love for Outkast runs deep. She was introduced to their unique wordplay and creative flow when she moved to South, Georgia as a teenager. Big Boi and 3000 dominated the Southern hip-hop scene heavily rooted in Atlanta and instantly became her favorite hip-hop group. The Outkast course offering comes as an extension to the book she’s writing about the “southernplayalistic” playas.