song was hot, the flows was crazy. The cycle changed. It really opened up the door for Southern rappers." In March 1998, OutKast purchased a studio nearby Northside Drive in Atlanta. Formerly owned by R&B singer Bobby Brown, the studio was the first place the duo had ever recorded vocals together – on a remix of TLC's "What About Your Friends" (1992) – and held sentimental value for them. Outkast named the studio "Stankonia", a word created by André 3000 as a portmanteau of the words "stank" (a slang synonym for "funky") and "Plutonia" (the title of a poster in his bedroom depicting a futuristic city). As he explained, "Stankonia is this place I imagined where you can open yourself up and be free to express anything". Recording The recording of Stankonia began in spring of 1999 and lasted for about a year. Owning a studio helped the band expand creatively, as the duo did not need to worry about time constraints that would occur with a rented studio. André 3000 observed, "You can sit there and fuck with just a kick and a snare all day long if you want to ... You're not working on the clock. Really, you're just working on your mind." Big Boi spent the majority of the recording time in the studio, while André 3000 worked at home, creating beats and experimenting with an acoustic guitar. One song that came from a jam session on the guitar was "Ms. Jackson", the album's second single. André 3000 also created song lyrics by writing words on the walls of his home: "I had planned to paint my house anyway; writing on the walls was just something I would do." One stray lyric on his wall eventually developed into "Gasoline Dreams". Much of the album was formulated during "vibe sessions" in which the group and producers would visit clubs in downtown Atlanta, select performers they saw, and invite them to the studio. They would then "sit around, smoke a few, drink a few", and create ideas for new songs. However, recording sessions became difficult as André 3000 grew tired of rapping on songs, which made Big Boi and the producers uneasy about how the music would sound. To maintain musical cohesion with Big Boi while continuing to expand his vocal palette, André decided to combine rapping with soul-inspired crooning, which had a major influence on Stankonia'''s sound.