Sexyy Red revealed she never heard André 3000’s “The South Got Something to Say” speech from the 1995 Source Awards. Sexyy Red cluelessly asked the Outkast member what he said during a discussion about the iconic moment in Hip-Hop history on LeBron James’ show The Shop.
“It was not planned,” André 3000 said regarding his speech. “It looked brave, but I was nervous as a m###########. I was just angry, man. We was in New York and we love New York. We grew up on all New York music, man … I just felt like, I don’t know, it just came out. And I just said that.”
Sexyy Red, born in 1998, was unfamiliar with the story.
“Whatchu say?” she inquired.
André 3000 responded, “I said the South got something to say.”
LeBron’s co-host and longtime business partner Maverick Carter encouraged Sexyy Red to watch the speech. André 3000 wasn’t bothered by Sexyy Red’s unfamiliarity as he continued reflecting on the 1995 Source Awards.
“I don’t even remember the whole thing,” he said. “But I just knew n##### hating on the South at that point … I just remember being really angry and driven because we’ve been creating this music, man. We’ve been in the Dungeon. And we just felt like, ‘Y’all don’t get it.’ And sometimes you have to show people, man.”
He added, “But it give you drive though! And I actually appreciate it now ‘cause it made us so harder.”
Outkast won Best New Artist at the 1995 Source Awards. Salt-N-Pepa unenthusiastically announced the winner of the award. The crowd booed Outkast, resulting in André 3000’s history-making speech.
“I’m tired of folks … close-minded folks, we got a demo tape but nobody wanna hear it,” he said. “But it’s like this: the South got something to say. That’s all I got to say.”
Watch his speech below.