Does This Picture Mean A New Outkast Album Is On The Way?

As far as terms hip-hop heads want to hear, “new Outkast album” is right up there with “Fugees reunion” and “Kanye apologizing for 808s,” and now there’s a mysterious image circulating on the internets that’s got the hip-hop world all abuzz. It’s a cryptic picture that popped up out of nowhere, but some are saying it could signal more Outkast tour dates, while others think it could mean a new Outkast album is on the way.

We first spotted the ad on the Twitter feed of @mynameisFACE, and – just like everybody else, we’re sure – our imaginations ran wild. The ad features two silhouettes that look like Outkast’s Big Boi and Andre 3000 either beaming up or beaming down from a spaceship. Above them, there’s the hashtag #ATLast, while the bottom of the picture has the date 9.27.14.

#ATLast… Now what could that mean? “At Last” Outkast is playing in their home town of ATLanta again? Maybe. The pair have been on tour, and the 27th of September is a Saturday, a perfect day for reliving the classic Outkast’s greatest hits.

Or, perhaps, #ATLast is a callback to the pair’s 1996 album ATLiens, signaling either that they are “At Last” back together or that it’s their last album. In that case, the September date could be a release date.

Speculation on Twitter is running wild, and the hashtag #ATLast has seen thousands of tweets in just the last couple of hours. Even Dungeon Family member Killer Mike – whose Run The Jewels collaboration with El-P you really should listen to – has no idea. Mike, who is close with Outkast and has had Big Boi pop up on several of his albums, tweeted earlier on Thursday that the picture “Looks like a [Outkast] poster,” though he added, “I have no idea.”

Big Boi’s Twitter feed has said nothing regarding the new image, and the official Outkast Twitter feed has nothing to add either. Still, the prospect of new material from Outkast, or even an inevitably legendary show in Atlanta, has got to set music lovers’ mouths to drooling, as even the slightest bit of news from Outkast tends to make headlines.

Earlier this year, the pair announced a reunion tour of 40 concerts kicking off with a performance at Coachella. Outkast has played to sold-out venues all across the nation, but the pair tamped down expectations that the reunion would mean new material from Outkast as a group.

“No, we’re just doing the tour only just for the fans,” Big Boi said back in February. Boi did go on to say that fans could expect new solo work from him, though.

Andre 3000, too, has already acknowledged that he’s working on a follow-up to 2003’s The Love Below. He’s said nothing regarding another Outkast project.

Hope springs eternal, though, as rumors surrounding the tour hinted that the Outkast members weren’t absolutely against the notion of a reunion album. Maybe the tour has rekindled Outkast’s creative synergy. Maybe September will tell #ATLast.