Comedian Bruce Bruce has been name-dropped by the who’s who of hip hop from Too $hort to The Notorious B.I.G. But when he looks back at his career in entertainment, it is Outkast to whom he gives the most thanks for helping him reach new levels of stardom.
“Outkast put me on the map. If I tell anybody anything different, I’d be lying,” said the BET “ComicView” alum in the latest episode of the “Club Shay Shay” podcast hosted by NFL great Shannon Sharpe. “When we did ‘So Fresh, So Clean,’ I did a video with them, and I’m going across the stage with the lavender suit on and everything, not knowing what this video is going to do for me,” he noted. Bruce Bruce is prominently featured in the “Players Ball”-esque scenes of the video, which debuted in 2000 and is featured on the group’s third studio album, Stankonia.
“But when they call me for the video, my manager is like, ‘How much [are] we going to charge them?’ I said, ‘Absolutely nothing,’” recalled the actor, who, like Big Boi and André 3000, also hails from Atlanta. When his manager asked why Bruce Bruce was willing to forgo getting paid, the entertainer explained, “‘First of all, I know them. Second of all, they’re hot. They’re gonna show this video every day for the next six months, 10 times a day.’ I said, ‘Trust me when I tell you, we’re gone get paid — probably not upfront, but on the backend, we gone get paid.’”
He would go on to reveal to Sharpe that the dividends from building a relationship with the icon rap duo surpassed whatever he could have charged them for the brief appearance in their music video. “When I did that for Outkast, it was the best thing I ever could have did. And then, by me not charging them, I did a movie with them called… Idlewild… and then I did Who’s Your Caddy? and they put me on the map again, which was great,” he said, expressing a wealth of gratitude.
Check out the full interview below.