André 3000 is no stranger to being mentioned among Hip Hop’s greatest MCs, but as far as his own favorites go, it seems he has a soft spot for South Carolina rapper Nick Grant.
Speaking to HipHopDX to promote his new album SUNDAY DINNER, Grant recalled meeting 3 Stacks for the first time and explained how influential the OutKast legend was on him and his career, admitting that there would be no Nick Grant without André 3000.
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The first time Grant — who released his OutKast-inspired project Welcome To Loveland in 2022 — met Dre he didn’t actually get to have a conversation with him. Their second meeting, however, was a mind-blowing experience for the 35-year-old spitter.
“My manager at the time, he called me like, ‘Yo, where you at? Meet me at my house,'” he told DX. “So I go to his house. He was like, ‘Aight, just ride with me real quick.’ [I] just met him there, left, went to the studio, [we] was just going to the studio, but he not really telling me what’s going on. So when I pull up, Dre’s in there.”
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It was then that André 3000 would say something to Grant that would leave him speechless and stay with him for the rest of his life.
“When I walk in, no lie, bro, he’s like, ‘Yo, man, you like my favorite rapper. If we did a song together I’d have to be on my shit.'” he said, recalling the surreal moment. “Then I’m like, this is Dre! Like, ‘Yo, bro, without you there is no me rapping.’ There is no me without André 3000. I don’t have my confidence, I don’t have the way I approach verses if it’s not for Dre.
“[He’s] super cool. One of the coolest people, not just in the business, in life. He was like, ‘Let me know when you’re out in such and such’ — I was staying somewhere else at the time — and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m definitely gonna let you know.’ He’s like, ‘I’ma come to the show when you…’ I’m like, whatever, awww here we go. Don’t lie to me.”
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It turns out 3 Stacks wasn’t lying. He did indeed show up to one of Nick Grant’s shows in Dallas, and not only that, he rallied to get others to come out to show.
“He got a real distinct voice,” Grant said. “He’s coming down the hall, and I’m like, ‘This muthafucka really came, bro. This is crazy.’ … He’s like, ‘Yo, there’s only like 15 people out there. Let’s take a picture and tell people to pull up.’ This guy is just the coolest. Anything you can imagine about Dre, he’s exactly the way you picture him to be.”
Asked whether they ever managed to get together and make music, Nick Grant revealed he and André 3000 — who just recently dropped his debut solo album, New Blue Sun — did, in fact, connect in the studio once, however, it didn’t result in a completed collaboration.
“We went to the studio one time,” he said. “But if he doesn’t feel it, bro, if he’s not in the vibe to create, which I respect, he’s not gonna do it. I’m not gonna force anything. If you force it… that’s not a good thing to do. And he’s not gonna do that. He’s like, if I’m not in the spirit at that moment to write, he’s not gonna do it.”
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“You gotta know I was trying to get that verse,” he continued. “I was playing beats and playing music and playing records. And at the time he was working on something, he was working on a record in the studio, and I’m like, ‘Yo!’ I’m listening and he’s talking to me, and I’m listening to the song. I’m like, ‘Yo, bro.'”
Grant added: “He’s one of those guys who doesn’t lose it and he probably threw that song on a hard drive and kept it pushing. I’m like, the world needs to hear this shit.”
Not afraid to give flowers to those who inspired him, it wasn’t just OutKast that Nick Grant paid homage to. Elsewhere in his interview with HipHopDX, he showed some love to Three 6 Mafia, whose 2005 hit “Poppin’ My Collar” uses the same Willie Hutch “Theme of the Mack” sample that Grant does on “Two Sides,” which appears on SUNDAY DINNER.
“Project Pat, ‘Cheese and Dope,’ I used to listen to all of his stuff,” Grant explained. “Anything Hypnotize Minds, Gangsta Boo, those guys were very influential at a point for me. I grew up on this. It was Cash Money, it was Hypnotize Minds, [and it was] Juicy J, who’s like reinvented himself multiple times and still has got a major thing going on.”
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He concluded: “They were very influential for me. The beats, the beats were crazy. Project Pat is somebody that I speak to often. His tone, his flow, everything about those guys is just original.”
Nick Grant’s SUNDAY DINNER is out now via Infinity Recordings/Virgin Music Group
