Show 14: B.O.B. (feat. Big Boi of OutKast)

Dressed in velcro Puma sneakers, shorts far too short, and morbid embarrassment in being the only student without a uniform, I was ushered into a small first grade classroom filled with 25 students at a Catholic school more than halfway through the school year. I knew no one. It was my second week in Queens, New York.

Maybe it was because we were of similar height or our Filipino heritage, but I began to hang out with Joe in school and after school. He lived a block away from the tiny upstairs room in which my family stayed. Joe was also the first friend to invite me over his house.

But a few years later, Joe left. He moved from our rough neighborhood of Hollis, Queens to a better neighborhood. I never thought I would see him again.

A year after Joe left the Catholic school, I left as well. My parents couldn’t afford the tuition. My mother found a way to get me enrolled at a junior high school several towns away—in Bayside, Queens.

I was in class 6-1. For seventh grade, I moved on to class 7-1.

And to my surprise, in class 7-5 was Joe.

Childhood years are both formative and informative. It had been a few years since I had seen him, and I was thrilled to reunite.

But it wasn’t the same.

We took different classes. We had different routes home—he could walk home from school but I had to take two buses back to Hollis. We then moved on to different high schools.

Several years later, 9/11 happened. The World Trade Center was destroyed. The War on Afghanistan War and the War on Iraq later commenced. The subsequent Patriot Act caused hell for Arabs in America and immigrants like me. And we were all required to take our shoes off at airports for years to come.

What I came to learn is that 9/11 inspired Joe to proudly serve the United States Marine Corps as an infantry rifleman.

Joe completed two tours of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Most importantly, Joe made it back alive.

While I haven’t seen him in over a decade, I think about him every time I hear OutKast’s “B.O.B.”

Bombs over Baghdad.

The fast-paced cacophony of drum beats, synths, background crowd chants, and clever lyrics by Big Boi and Andre 3000 make it one of the best songs of all time, across any genre. Their genius turned chaos into core elements of the chorus and pre-chorus of the song. “Don’t pull the thang out, unless you plan to bang,…Don't even bang unless you plan to hit something," Andre 3000 warns in the pre-chorus.

In recent years, I conceded that OutKast is the greatest rap group of all time. My neighborhood loyalty to A Tribe Called Quest was too entrenched for a bit too long. Andre 3000 is my favorite rapper of all time. I hate that I have never seen him perform (not even the flute).

I have seen Big Boi perform several times, however. He expertly raps his parts on the OutKast hits. His Brooklyn Bowl show in 2023 is still one of my favorite concerts of this decade. I will never forget that he closed with one of my all-time favorite songs, “International Players Anthem.”

But it wasn’t the same.

Andre 3000 was missing.

Nevertheless, Big Boi’s performance at Brooklyn Bowl that night was special. To be so close in a fairly small venue made it extra wonderful.

"Great things start in little rooms. We started in a little room."

That’s what André Lauren Benjamin (AKA Andre 3000) said as part of OutKast’s induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2025.

He’s right.

A little room in a Catholic school is also where I met my first childhood friend in New York City.

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Concert access + more:

1. John Legend is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Get Lifted. Check out the tour dates here.

2. The Jonas Brothers keep touring. See upcoming dates here.

3. For subscribers in NYC, if you want free jam session access on November 14th in Times Square from 7pm-9pm, send a message to Cris_at_Concerts on Instagram. You can enjoy great live music and get on stage with the band!

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Job/Career Opportunities in Music and Entertainment:

1. Here are open US roles at Warner Music Group.

2. Sony Music Group has jobs in product, marketing, and more

3. Universal Music Group has open roles ranging from Data Governance Analyst to Project Management to Finance to Full Stack Engineering, Cloud Engineering, and various creative roles.

4. Spotify has many open roles ranging from Data Science to Machine Learning to Accounting and Account Management.

5. Sirius XM has various Social Media Management, Software Engineering, Business Development, and Operations roles currently open.

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About the author:

Cris is the award-winning Founder & CEO of GrantAnswers, an NYC-based data, strategy & consulting firm founded in 2013. His journey to becoming an award-winning entrepreneur has been highlighted in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, MTV, and Forbes. He has helped +1000s launch careers in tech & secure acceptances to top colleges & programs. His speaking engagements for the likes of Columbia Business School, Teach for America and the US Chamber of Commerce encompass immigration, career development, entrepreneurship, and tech diversity & inclusion. He is also an avid concertgoer for +25 years and counting, and likes to tell stories about it.