Released: July 1, 1997

Songwriter: Big Boi André 3000

Producer: OutKast

[Sampled Chorus]
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting

[Verse 1: André 3000]
Now sittin' in the bathtub listening to the Isley
Brothers and others outside my door want to despise me
Reminds me that everyone ain't cool, the world is jealous
Never could understand when my mama use to tell us
"Don't take your food outside around your friends
Unless you got enough to feed the neighborhood"
The play has just began, follow me now
Act 1 Scene 2 the date 1/1/96 the time I don't know
Mood disturbed, Dre goes on to say they trying to get over
Like them niggas with the blinker on, I got my thinker on
So I'm like 'Word, however you want to act is fine'
That is real as fishing rods
I might be kissing God but I'm still in the battle
So if you got cattle you best be fasting
For 7 days and 7 nights we everlasting
20 years young on a quest to get my class ring
Just for them fhite wolks, I will if it's the last thing
I do

[Sampled Chorus]
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting

[Interlude: Big Boi]
Yeah, slick, knowhatI'msayin', I'm gonna tell you like this
Just 'cause I live the apartment don't mean you can keep puttin' these notes under my windshield, I'm tellin' you
Shorty gon' bust your ass about that shit

[Verse 2: Big Boi]
Check it, hey y'all, hey y'all, hey y'all, hoes
Back up in this bitch rippin' tracks like I'm supposed
Tommy and Ralph Lauren don't like niggas to wear they clothes
Where your proof at? Who's that? Talking shit like those
Keepin' the rumors up, I wish I lived in a fuckin' cave
I ride the streets in Lexus, all these crows they wanna be saved
Go to college, get a job 'cause all you want to do is shake
I use to hit Club Nikki's but I gave that shit a break
Just like Maaco, Waco, burn it to the ground
I bet you eatin' that pork when your partners ain't around
Backdraft, scenes of Shaft splackin' these hoes just like he's supposed to
Quote you: "Big Boi is the pimp ass nigga that formed you"
Like pottery, sloppily, playin' hoes like lotteries
OutKast did the dirt and now you swear your shit is poppin' see
You bit (beats), we makin' hits, so give me your flag back
I'm living in the SWATS so you may call me Daddy Fat Sax
Yeah, you know what I'm sayin'? Like this
Everlasting

[Sampled Chorus]
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting

[Verse 3]
[Big Boi]
One in a million men passing the J off in the culture
Don't y'all smoke a couple of pounds and get tore up y'all
And tear the devil headquarters down to the grizzound
Is how we hit the house and puff a couple of good pounds
Of good weed, PeeWee, my nigga Little Beewee
We need a 50 box of Phillies and some bouncin' titties
From the Magic, the Flame
Nikki's too, and share in Sequel's
Never payin' for no pussy
You can shake it, you can keep it to yourself, hoe

[André 3000]
You left your morals at the door, when you stepped in, crept in
Naked as babies at the beach, so
Now you wonder why your nigga done bust you in the fore
Head, ain't no respect there, so now you just assed out like breech
Delivery, slivery got you swung on
These types of things go on from here to Bowen Home to London
England, Wall Street to y'all street
Sometimes I get bewildered and it throws a nigga like me off beat
But I'm back on it
Because we lasting 'ever, sound good, don't it?
Rattling your trunks like FAMU and the component
Said that's it—man, fuck that shit
On and on and on and I'm out

[Sampled Chorus]
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting
Everlasting

OutKast

Atlanta, Georgia natives André “André 3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton are OutKast, one of the most successful rap groups of all time. Along with the production crew Organized Noize and the Dungeon Family collective, André and Big Boi helped popularize and expand the sound of rap in the “Dirty South.”

The duo connected at Tri-Cities High School and after the names “2 Shades Deep” or “The Misfits” didn’t work out, they went with OutKast as a synonym of “misfit.” They signed to LaFace Records in 1992 prior to finishing high school and their first official appearance came on a remix to TLC’s hit single “What About Your Friends.” This led into their debut single “Player’s Ball” being released in 1993 and their debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik following in 1994. They had a pivotal moment early in their career as they were named New Artist of the Year at the 1995 Source Awards, leading them to be booed by the New York crowd and André responding with his iconic “The South got somethin' to say.”

Their next two albums, ATLiens (1996) and Aquemini (1998), have sparked debates as to which album is superior. ATLiens saw the duo begin to produce their own music and increase their profile while Aquemini received a perfect “5 Mic” rating from The Source magazine. Their next album, Stankonia (2000), further solidified their superstar status with the hit singles “B.O.B.,” “So Fresh, So Clean” and “Ms. Jackson,” which won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group while Stankonia won a Grammy in the Best Rap Album category.