The Funk Soul Brothers

Three days after the Grammys, Dre, 28, began shooting Be Cool, the sequel to Get Shorty, in which he and Cedric the Entertainer play members of a thuggish rap group called the WMDs, managed by John Travolta. "I get to dress stupid over-the-top," Dre says with obvious delight. "Platinum jewelry, pants half-down my waist." There was no name in the original script -- Dre's lines were labeled "Andre" -- so during rehearsals he offered a hundred bucks to whoever made up the "stupidest slum-ghetto name." Cedric won with "Dabu."

Dre is driving down Sunset Boulevard in his Toyota Land Cruiser. A saxophone workout by the Jazz Crusaders plays on the SUV's stereo. We pull into a parking garage, and a guard smiles at Dre and waves us through. "You see that guy?" Dre asks. "Remember that song 'Pass the Dutchie'? He did that song. He was in that group when he was a little kid." Dre shakes his head. "He said they paid him $500."

Though Dre is often portrayed as a shy eccentric, upstairs at Katana -- a trendy Asian restaurant designed to look like a set from Blade Runner, only with more models -- he accepts a steady stream of well-wishers with ease and a near--constant grin. Jermaine Dupri stops by for an elbow bump, as do members of Tha Dogg Pound, a guy who says he directed Friday After Next and a young lady who says her girlfriend -- "the white girl back there" -- wants Dre's number. Dre seems briefly nonplused by the request but gives her the number.

With the ubiquity of "Hey Ya!," Andre 3000 has emerged as the more recognized half of OutKast. The song deserves the airplay, chanelling a giddy, birth-of-rock-&-roll energy that comes as close to perfection as pop songs ever do. And any man willing to step out in a muumuu becomes especially conspicuous in the fairly conformist world of hip-hop. Tonight, Dre is wearing a Ralph Lauren Mackinaw over a checked blue oxford shirt and loose blue pants with yellow stars garnishing the leg seam. A tweed cap covers his hair (in cornrows for Be Cool), and his flashiest piece of jewelry is a vintage silver flower ring.