Okay, guys.

Hey, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. I hope you're doing well.

And today we have to talk about one of the weirdest stories to come out of rap media this week that involves one of the greatest duos the genre has ever seen. That is Atlanta's own OutKast. It's no secret. Big Boi and André 3000 as OutKast are one of the most influential duos of all time in rap music. And in the years where they actually were active, forged one of the most bulletproof catalogs.

Because of how much the image of OutKast and the OutKast name has become just revered in recent years, I think André and Big Boi are very understandably protective of the OutKast image, the idea of the OutKast legacy. The desire to maintain that, while understandable, I think, is also the impetus for this new and, in my opinion, very unflattering lawsuit they seem to be locked in with a much younger and up-and-coming rapper-producer who goes by the name of OvrKast.

Now, OvrKast, while not a household name, is certainly a relevant and impactful name in certain hip-hop circles. We actually talked about him not too long ago on this channel in the midst of that On The Radar Cypher, where he was one of many participants. And it was as recently as Drake's Iceman album cycle that he was actually doing some production for Champagne Papi himself. So regardless of whether or not you like the guy's music, he's out here doing shit.

Which is why OutKast may be hitting him with legal papers here now. Because apparently, they don't care for his name, or at least the way it's specifically formulated. Because if we could bring it up on screen, the name OvrKast., OutKast is insisting that these letters, the way they line up, is similar enough visually to the name OutKast to essentially pressure OvrKast., not only into changing his name.

That's kind of what the bulk of this debate is around - the fact that somebody, while not paying too much attention to what they're seeing on the internet, might see the name OutKast or the name OvrKast., the way it is spelled, and potentially mix them up. In fact, it said part of the reason this lawsuit is even happening is that, publicly, OvrKast. himself has admitted to, when seeing the name OutKast, thinking it might be him people are actually typing about.

But the spelling is like, because my name was supposed to be O-V-E-R-K-A-S-T, but that was on Instagram, it was taken. Oh, okay. So I was like, 'Oh, fuck it, O-V-R-K-A-S-T.' And I just kept it from there. And it worked out! Yeah, yeah, I kept it. Yeah, not OutKast though. N***** are like, you know what's crazy about that shit though? I'll be reading shit like, is that? Oh, that ain't me. Like, I see OutKast, and I think it's like me, and I'm like, 'Oh, never mind.' I didn't even think about that shit until like, I would like drop shit, and it was like, what? That ain't OutKast.

And look, obviously, I'm not a lawyer. And when it comes to legal battles involving music, I'm much more familiar with terms and disagreements around musical copyright, not so much name copyright. But I will say, for the sake of argument here, the similarities between these two names really only seem to be, like, visual on a very, very, very surface level with just the lettering here.

It's not a similarity in logo. It's not a similarity in how the words are said or how they sound or even what they mean. But with all of that being said, as somebody who is literally professionally engrossed in the world of online music, and I love OutKast while simultaneously following OvrKast. and being aware of his work and his Tweets regularly make their way into my feed, I gotta say, not one single time in my fucking life have I ever seen one and thought it was the other.

Could I foresee situations where maybe people think that very quickly when scrolling quickly through Twitter or a platform like that? And do I think it was foolish of OvrKast. to admit such a thing in a public conversation? Yes, that is certainly not a great look and will most likely be brought up in any legal proceeding if this does actually go to trial. But with that being said, I would hope a judge, if they were hearing a prosecutor out on this, would actually make that person follow through with that logic and then explain beyond that confusion how that would transfer into anything that would lead to confusion around money or business or the wrong person being employed or paid. Nobody is paying OverKst. Nobody is putting money in OvrKast.'s pocket thinking that if they pay him, they're going to get an Andre 3000 feature on a record. Drake isn't giving OutKast money for beats on a new record because he thinks Big Boi is producing them. Nobody is looking at this guy and thinking that it's these guys. These are very different looking guys.

In fact, one of the easiest ways to tell them apart is that one of them is two of them. Like, if you do happen to find yourself in a place where you find the names a little confusing, the answer you seek is probably just one click away. If you're looking at a link or you see an avatar or you see a picture and it's just like one person, it's probably the one-guy guy. If you see a logo or an image or maybe a video and you happen to see two older talented gentlemen rapping or performing, it's probably the two-guy guys.

And look, it's not like there isn't precedent for this sort of thing, not just in hip-hop, but numerous forms of popular music, where you have bands, even in similar scenes and genres, that might have similar-sounding names and they have somehow found a way to, like, co-exist.

In the case of some examples, I could cite, like, Death From Above changing their name to Death From Above 1979, or Ghost, for a period, going to the name Ghost B.C. These are legal back-and-forths and arguments that kind of involve two groups or artists or entities having the same exact name.

That I could kind of see. But in the case of specifically rap music, I don't know; out here you have guys like Nas who don't seem to be bothered about the potential confusion that could arise due to there being a Lil Nas X out and about. We also have a SZA, RZA, and a JZA all separately doing their thing.

And do you guys not remember the early 2010s and how many motherfuckers had a dollar sign in their name? Not only were there so many dollar sign names, but guys with Lil in their name and Young. And believe me, I was there. People were confusing the Lil's.

But look, as tacky as I think this lawsuit is, if OutKast really wants to go through with trying to force this name change, especially given that, I guess, prior to this OvrKast. and OutKast had been in talks to make this happen.

What I cannot stand by even a little bit whatsoever is OutKast seems to be seeking monetary damages beyond just the name change, looking for the destruction of any merch that might exist and also money that might exist. OvrKast. may have been paid for various work he's done over the years and money he's earned off his music. Which, to me, is crazy because again, like, nobody in the industry is paying OvrKast. to do anything because they think he's OutKast. OvrKast doesn't even come up as a suggestion when I type in OutKast on a platform like Apple Music.

OutKast doesn't even come up as a suggestion when I look up OvrKast. So when it comes to the literal consumption of each artist's music through the primary pipelines that we experience in the "streaming age," these systems aren't even set up in a way to make it likely you would confuse them.

I mean, sure, there could be some mix-ups on social media, especially given the way some people type, but I don't know. If it was on me to make the decision, you would then have to illustrate to me from there what that is going to actually add up to in terms of, like, a dollar amount.

Like, what is the dollar amount in damages every single time a potential hypothetical person quickly scrolls past the name OutKast and thinks it's OvrKast., or vice versa, and then maybe stares for five more seconds and is like, 'Oh, okay, no, never mind,' and then just keeps going.

Yeah, again, while I think OutKast is certainly within their right to defend their copyright and their IP and their good name, I just don't see how the existence of OvrKast. threatens that.

And I think I'm gonna leave it there. Over here next to my head is another video you guys can check out. Hit that up or a link to subscribe to the channel. Anthony Fantano, OutKast, forever.