André 3000’s been receiving a ton of media attention for his verse on Frank Ocean’s Blond (and rightly so: in a minute and nineteen seconds, 3stacks says more than many rappers say in an entire album), but his former Outkast compatriot has his own headline: two upcoming projects, a solo album and an EP with Killer Mike.

The Killer Mike EP has been getting a lot of attention, but let’s not forget how cool it is that we’re getting a new Big Boi album. 2010’s Sir Lucious Left Foot and 2012’s Vicious Lies and Rumors were excellent records that went too overlooked. Old names like Sleepy Brown and UGK came together along with newer acts like Kid Cudi and Gucci Mane to make excellent modern Southern rap records. Even more recently, however, Big Boi released Big Grams, a collaborative EP with Phantogram. Both EDM king Skrillex and rap duo Run the Jewels (which consists of Killer Mike and El-P) contributed to the excellent six-song EP that showed the unlikely pairing of Southern rap with electronic rock was a force to be reckoned with. In an interview with Spin that looked back on the twenty years since Outkast released ATLiens, Big Boi confirmed that his first solo effort in four years was “halfway done”.

A joint EP with Killer Mike is no surprise given the rappers’ history, and honestly it’s been a long time coming. Outkast gave Mike his debut on “Snappin’ and Trappin‘” (off 2000’s Stankonia LP), and he would go on to reappear on “Flip Flop Rock“, “In Your Dreams“, “Land of a Million Drums“, and the Grammy-winning track “The Whole World“. Big Boi went on to feature on a member of Killer Mike tracks, including “Akshon (Yeah!)“, “A.D.I.D.A.S.“, and “Banana Clipper” off Run The Jewels’ self-titled LP. The two have a long history of collaboration, and feed off each other incredibly well. Both are part of Atlanta’s Dungeon Family, a loose rap collective that traces back to 1993 and has counted Organized Noize, Goodie Mob, Janelle Monáe, and Future among its members.

Killer Mike’s been a hugely underrated rapper for years, but the recent success of Run the Jewels, his vocal political career in support of former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (and attempted run for the House of Representatives in Georgia), and major cosign on Kendrick’s “Hood Politics” have catapulted him into a much-deserved place in modern hip hop. Expect Run The Jewels’ much anticipated third album either late this year or early next year, and his joint with Big Boi sometime thereafter.