Georgia college to teach OutKast class

A Savannah, Georgia college professor is proving she’s cooler than being cool, teaching a class about the music and writing of OutKast.

English professor Regina Bradley has created a course in the Literature and Philosophy department at Armstrong State University which fuses modern pop culture with African-American literature, searching for the connections between hip-hop writing and political expression in the South.

Bradley says she chose the work of the duo — aside from the fact they’re both from Georgia (André from Atlanta, Big Boi from Savannah) — because of their literary and cultural metaphors. “They raise intriguing questions about the significance of region as an influencer of creative expression,” said Bradley in an interview with Pigeons and Planes. “Outkast’s experimentation in how they articulated and celebrated their southernness manifested in intriguing ways.”

Understandably news of the new course spread on social media, and Twitter is saying “Hey Ya!” to the idea.

Despite the last OutKast album being released over 10 years ago, Bradley is confident their work speaks to fellow southern writers, as well as current social movements. “While they have their whimsical moments, OutKast has multiple tracks that question poverty, illiteracy, and other challenges that can connect and help raise questions about how southern black folks moved on after the movement.”

The class starts this month, but it won’t last foreva … foreva, eva … foreva, eva.