Houston Rockets James Harden and Russell Westbrook grace the March 2020 cover of GQ, in the process paying tribute to Outkast’s iconic Stankonia photo shoot.
Shortly after the cover was unveiled on Tuesday (February 18), Big Boi gave it two thumbs up and tagged GQ‘s Editor-In-Chief Will Welch to ensure he was aware of his approval.
“@gq #Dopeness put the ‘O’ in ICON,” he wrote on Instagram. “#Stankonia @willwelch.”
Stankonia arrived in 2000 L.A. Reid’s label at the time, La Face Records, and featured the singles “So Fresh So Clean,” “Ms. Jackson” — Outkast’s first No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit — and “B.o.B.”
The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 upon its release and was certified gold by the RIAA within a week.
It also produced two Grammy Awards for the duo at the 2002 Grammy Awards in the Best Rap Album category and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Ms. Jackson.”
Stankonia was the name of André 3000 and Big Boi’s Atlanta studio, which they purchased from Bobby Brown. In a 2000 interview with The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 3 Stacks described the studio as a place “where you can open yourself up and be free to express anything.”
And that’s just what they did.