Andre Benjamin and Antwan Patton were wearing baseball jerseys long before they were a hip hop cornerstone. The outcasts rocked plaid shorts, duck boots and Girbaud jeans before you, too. So, it kinda makes sense then that Dre would take this love of fashion to the next level.

Benjamin Bixby is the clothing line birthed from Andre 3000’s colorful mind. Look at the pics. You know the guy’s style. We’ll call it a funky semblance of 30s era sensibilities with a flair for the dramatic. But rather than speculate on the labels the talented rapper/actor uses in his own description, we’d rather go to the man himself and get his thoughts on his new higher-end brand (items at Neiman Marcus and Barney’s range from $75 bowties to $1,595 leather jackets), his own style evolution and hip hop’s relevance to fashion.

BET.com: Describe a Benjamin Bixby man.

Andre 3000: He’s a person that understands the classics, but he doesn’t stay in the classic box. He’s a lil’ more adventurous. It’s not too outrageous. It’s only outrageous in spirit. I guess he’s not that person that put on clothes just to put them on. He actually makes an event out of it ‘cuz he really enjoys personal style. I would say he’s like the classic eccentric.

I like that term, classic eccentric.

At the end of the day, man, I love classics. They’ll never go away. It’s all in how you put it together and how you wear it. It’s the different colors and the different patterns that make it its own thing.

Explain your personal style evolution.

It’s spontaneous. It’s whatever you’re feeling that day. To do it, I have to go back even farther. Before me and Big Boi started Outkast, we met in high school. We were preppin’. In Atlanta, that’s tennis sweaters, riding boots and duck shoes. That’s the kind of thing we were doing as kids, finding new ways to rock clothes. We’d even buy red dye from the store just to make our colors. It was always a big concern about appearance. When we started Outkast and came out with the first album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, we represented something. Personally, I just didn’t want to fit in. I wanted to be a part of the music that I love. The style was more down-to-earth, I guess that’s what people would call it. Even at that time, we were wearing jerseys before people had thought about them. It was a cool thing that we did in Atlanta.

Moving forward, I’ve always just mirrored the music. With my influences from Parliament to Funkadelic and Sly Stone, Jimmi Hendrix and all these people, I loved the outrageous style. And their music was killer! At that time, I had a lot of influence from that style and it got a lot wilder. I was really just having fun on stage. A lot of those costumes that I wore, those were actually costumes that I drew out and got with a seamstress here in Atlanta and we actually made’em. When you’re watching the “Hey Ya” video, the pants, the shirts and all that kind of stuff was clothes I designed. From that point on, I was like, “Whoa, let me start my own brand.”

Moving forward, as my music got more sophisticated, so did the dress. I started to research and learn more about it, and I was bit. I know way more now than I knew five years ago. That’s pretty much where it is.

Let’s back up to the riding boots for a second. That was in high school, a time when kids can be pretty rough. Speak to the high school kid today who’s trying to set his own trends in class.

Just to clear something up, but Big Boi actually started that whole throwback jersey thing. I wore an actual Atlanta Braves jersey, but Big Boi had on an Astros shirt and that kinda crunk [the trend] up. I just wanna give him his props.

When it comes to having your own style, especially in high school, we were basically outkasts in school. We would wear Girbaud jeans and these colorful shirts. A lot of people in the school didn’t really understand the style, but what is is that when people talk bad about you, most of the time it’s because they’re jealous because they can’t be that fly. They have to find some way to make you feel out of place. I always feel that if another dude is jockin’ you, something is wrong with him anyway. Know what I mean?

Is hip hop still a trendsetter in fashion?

Oh yeah. Always. There will always be somebody in hip hop that’s trendsetting. And now, it’s even more widespread. When hip hop first started, it was just pretty much inner-city, ghetto kids listening to it. Now you got suburban kids and white kids checkin’ it out. I know the parents hate it, but it will always be here in some kind of way.

A lot of celebrities try the jump into fashion. Many fail. What will it take for Benjamin Bixby to remain on store shelves three or four years from now?

It’ll take the same passion that’s going in it at the beginning to keep it going. That’s basically what it is. I don’t know the background or the underbelly of other celebrity clothing brands -I wouldn’t like to call Benjamin Bixby a celebrity clothing brand- but a lot of times it’s just a money-making vehicle for people. It’s basically a deal where you license your name and they just make it. So, it’s not a lot of passion behind it. That’s why they don’t last. I think if you have ideas and you treat it like something close to you, I think it’ll last. I really can’t speak for a lot of other brands. As far as me and Benjamin Bixby, I’ve been trying to do this for, like, seven years. I did my research. I’m actually in the factories in Hong Kong. I’m in the factories in Italy. I’m learning it and making sure my stuff is the way I wanna see it. It’s my baby. I gotta stay with it. As far as longevity, it’s about passion, man. That’s all I can say.

As far as the Outkast line from some years back, was that your baby or did you just lend your name out for that?

To be honest, that’s what it was. We had some Korean investors. Around that time, we really didn’t know what we were getting into. Some people saw that we had style and they were like, “Hey, we can do an Outkast clothing company.” We were like, “Cool, we can make the stuff we wanna make.” But whenever I would say, “Hey, why don’t we make this,” the company we were dealing with, they were like, “Nah, that’s not cool. Let’s just try to make stuff like FUBU is doing. That’s what people are buying.” I was like, “What?!” To be honest, it was a learning process. I don’t fault anyone for it. The people that were in business with got into it for the money. There’s nothing wrong with that. I just think you have to know what your priorities are. Some people start clothing lines to make money. If you make money, you did what you set out to do. I don’t have no problem with that at all. The reason why I’m doing is because I set out to make the styles I wanted to wear, things I did not see, things I wanted to put on my back. If it happens to make money, man, that’s great. That means I can keep doing it.

Can’t be nice being in a high-speed pursuit with the cops. But sadly, that’s exactly where hood-approved crooner Lyfe Jennings found himself over the weekend.

According to reports, the 30-year-old Lyfe (born Chester Jennings) was looking for the mother of his children in the form of threatening knocks to the door and gunfire in the air. When police arrived at the scene, Jennings sped off in his car, starting a chase with authorities. Jennings was later arrested on charges of gun offenses, trespassing, eluding police and driving under the influence.

Jennings, who served a ten-year sentence as a teen for arson, was released on $50,000 bond.

Love him or loathe him, it’s hard to front on Diddy’s hustle. It doesn’t matter if he’s hawking jeans, vodka, cologne or moderately-talented singing groups, Sean Combs stays on his grind. In fact, Diddy and his business partners just signed the dotted line on the $20 million acquisition of another clothing brand.

The company is Enyce, a 12-year-old label that was bought back in ‘03 by Liz Claiborne for $114 million. Diddy swears that with his name attached and the right marketing ploy behind it, Enyce can get the same respect on store racks it had five or six years back.

Now that Diddy’s behind it, think Enyce’s got a chance of ever being hot again?

Ah, if it isn’t Ms. Monica striking a BET Hip Hop Awards red carpet pose in this Neo-meets-Louis Vuitton number.

Is she “The One” in this outfit?

Over the past few months, Askmen.com, one of the web’s most-visited sites for guys, has asked its readers to name the fellas who’ve influenced the things they saw, bought and thought the most over the past year. The list of 49 entertainers, politicians, designers and athletes was announced this morning. Guess who was No. 1?

Yep, Mr. Presidential Hopeful himself, Barack Obama. His White House opposition, John McCain, was No. 10. Kanye West (No. 17), Kobe Bryant (No. 18) and LeBron James (No. 20) also made the list. Lil Wayne crept on there, too, at No. 48.

If you were putting a list of the most influential men in the game, who’d make the Top 5?

If Red Foxx was the voice of raunchy straight talk in the 50s and 60s, Rudy Ray Moore was the same in the 70s. Part comedian and part rapper, Moore could make bellies split and cheeks blush all at the same time with his X-rated routines. Still, the role Moore, who passed away today in Ohio, is most famous for is that on the big screen as Dolemite, a well-spoken pimp in the movie of the same name. According to Eurweb.com, the late entertainer leaves behind his 98-year-old mother and a daughter.

Another instrumental voice to soul music’s foundation has passed away. Dee Dee Warwick (at right), an accomplished solo artist and session singer, died Saturday at a New Jersey rest home.

Dee Dee, the sister of Dionne Warwick, was actually born Delia Mae Warrick in 1945. The younger sis had a magical sound, but unfortunately, it was one often relegated to the shadows cast by Dionne’s more universally-appealing light. Dee Dee would go on to not only accept this background position, but end up a highly-respected session singer for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Nina Simone and her sister.

Dee Dee did have a few solo R&B hits, “You’re No Good” and “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,” but those songs became more popular in the hands of Linda Rondstadt and Diana Ross, respectively. Even with the commercial slights, true soul music lovers will always remember Dee Dee Warwick’s sparkling tone and how it made many a song in the 60s and 70s flutter.

As you can imagine, on the evening of the BET Hip Hop Awards, there were all kinds of parties to get into. Unlike most of the action at Atlanta-area clubs though, Ne-Yo’s birthday celebration at Mason Murer art gallery had a theme that went beyond bottle-popping.

Taking a page from a lavish Vegas show, Ne-Yo turned 29 to a colorful backdrop of topless belly dancers and acrobats swinging from the ceiling. A few of Ne-Yo’s famous friends stopped by, too. Here are some pics…Melyssa Ford

Young Joc

Keri Hilson

There are all kinds of surprises in store for you when you peep the BET Hip Hop Awards on Thursday, but there’s one announcement surrounding Lil Wayne that we won’t keep from you any longer…

“I got a son dropping any day,” Weezy said while receiving one of his awards during last night’s taping. “Pray for me.”

We will, Wayne, ‘cuz with an already-hectic schedule of touring, guest appearing and releasing another version of Tha Carter III, we foresee a lot of long nights ahead.

Remember these cats? Well, Method Man and Redman certainly recall the good times they had with you in the late 90s. As a show of just how badly they wanna reacquaint with fans still listening to party starters like “Da Rockwilder” and “How High,” the weed-scented wonders are trekking across the country with the Still High Tour, a concert series that got under way last night in New York City. Meth and Red are also prepping their new album, Blackout 2, for a December release.

Here are the rest of the tour dates:

Sat-Oct 18, 2008 Richmond, VA – Toads Place
Sun-Oct 19, 2008 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
Tue-Oct 21, 2008 Bloomington IN – Bluebird
Wed-Oct 22, 2008 Covington, KY – Mad Hatter
Thu-Oct 23, 2008 Detroit, MI – Crofoot Ballroom
Fri-Oct 24, 2008 Chicago, IL – House of Blues
Mon- Oct 27, Minneapolis, MN – First Ave
Wed-Oct 29, Denver, CO – Ogden
Thu-Oct 30, Aspen, CO – Belly Up
Fri-Oct 31, Salt Lake City, UT – Murray Theatre
Sun-Nov 2, Bellingham, WA – WMU – Viking Union
Tue-Nov 4, Portland, OR – Roseland
Wed-Nov 5, Seattle, WA – Showbox SODO
Thu-Nov 6, Arcata, CA – Humboldt St. Univ
Fri-Nov 7, San Fran, CA – Grand Ballroom
Sat-Nov 8, Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst
Sun-Nov 9, Petaluma, CA – Phoenix Theater
Tue-Nov 11, Los Angeles, CA – House of Blues
Thu-Nov 13, San Diego, CA – Cane’s
Fri-Nov 14, Phoenix, AZ – Marquee Theater
Sat-Nov 15, Albuquerque, NM – ALB Convention CTR
Sun-Nov 16, Dallas, TX – House of Blues
Tue-Nov 18, Austin, TX – Stubbs Waller Creek Amp
Wed-Nov 19, Houston, TX – House of Blues
Fri-Nov 21, Athens, GA – Georgia Theater
Sat-Nov 22, Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
Sun-Nov 23, Carrboro, NC – Cats Cradle
Tue-Nov 25, Norfolk, VA – Norva Theatre
Wed-Nov 26, Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
Fri-Nov 28, Asbury Park, NJ – Stony Pony
Sat-Nov 29, Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero
Sun-Dec 2, 2008 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
Sat-Dec 3, 2008 Richmond, VA – Toads Place
Thu-Dec 4, Burlington, VT – Higher Ground
Fri-Dec 5, Worchester, MA – Palladium
Wed-Dec 10, New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place
Fri-Dec 12, Providence, RI – Lupos