André 3000 on his new flute music: “I actually don’t know what I’m doing”
André 3000 has admitted that, when it comes to his new musical direction, he’s making it up as he goes along.
The OutKast rapper dropped a surprise project in November last year, marking his first solo album in 17 years. But upon its release, fans were surprised to discover that rather than the rap album they had been anticipating, it was an 87-minute ambient flute record.
Explaining the new creative direction of ‘New Blue Sun’, he admitted he felt he’d aged out of the genre that kick-started his career: “Sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap because I don’t have anything to talk about in that way. I’m 48 years old. And not to say that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about, but in a way it does.”
“And things that happen in my life, like, what are you talking about?” he continued. “‘I got to go get a colonoscopy’. What are you rapping about? ‘My eyesight is going bad’. You can find cool ways to say it, but….”
Now, André 3000 has shared that his unexpected pivot to instrumental flute wasn’t as calculated as it may have seemed. Speaking on LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The Shop podcast on Friday (July 12), he said: “I don’t want people to think that I’m trying to be a jazz musician.”
He continued: “I kind of look at myself as a sonic displayist. I don’t know what notes I’m playing, to be completely honest. I’m not trying to pretend like I know what I’m doing, in a way. I actually don’t know what I’m doing and that’s part of the art.”
At the time of ‘New Blue Sun’s release, Ja Rule said that he felt “heartbroken” by André 3000’s decision to release an album with “no bars”. Speaking to The Tamron Hall Show, he said: “Hip-hop is growing up and I think it’s time for artists in my age bracket to continue making music so we have those classic hip-hop stations and those classic hip-hop songs.” This was a sentiment also shared by Lil Wayne, who said it was “so depressing” that André 3000 felt “too old” to make another rap album.
Though there may be little direction behind the new tracks, it didn’t stop them from breaking records. Opening track ‘I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a “Rap” Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time’ was the longest-ever song to enter the Billboard Hot 100, clocking in at 12 minutes and 20 seconds.
At the time of the album’s release, fans also expressed surprise at the unconventional song titles, which include ‘The Slang Word P(*)ssy Rolls Off The Tongue With Far Better Ease Than The Proper Word Vagina. Do You Agree?’, alongside the slightly more poetic ‘Dreams Once Buried Beneath The Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens’.
New music may be on the horizon sooner rather than later, with André 3000 announcing in January that a collaboration with SAULT is on the cards after he spent time in the studio with the mysterious British collective.
The OutKast rapper also recently announced a fresh series of shows in the US later this year, following the success of his US tour earlier in the Spring. Beginning in September, the tour will kick off in New Orleans’ Orpheum Theatre, visiting a host of new cities including Houston, Seattle, Vancouver and Salt Lake City. Tickets are on sale now, and you can get yours here.
André 3000’s ‘New Blue Sun’ tour dates are:
SEPTEMBER
19 — New Orleans, LA @ Orpheum Theater
21 — Dallas, TX @ AT&T PAC – Winspear Opera House
22 — Austin, TX @ ACL Live at The Moody Theater
25 — Houston, TX @ The Hobby Center For The Performing Arts
27 — Albuquerque, NM @ Kiva Auditorium
28 — Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Arts Center
OCTOBER
01 — San Diego, CA @ Humphreys By The Bay
02 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre
04 — Santa Barbara, CA @ Arlington Theatre
05 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
09 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theater
11 — Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
14 — Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
16 — Salt Lake City, UT @ Eccles Theater
17 — Denver, CO @ Ellie Caulkins Opera House
19 — Minneapolis, MN @ Northrop
21 — Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed
22 — Detroit, MI @ Masonic Cathedral Theatre
25 — Brooklyn, NY @ BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
30 — Boston, MA @ Boch Center Wang Theatre
NOVEMBER
01 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia presented by Highmark
02 — Akron, OH @ Akron Civic Theatre
08 — Richmond, VA @ Altria Theater
09 — Washington, DC @ The Kennedy Center
12 — Durham, NC @ DPAC
14 — Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre
Fans in Europe can catch André 3000 at Øyafestival and All Points East. He’s also joining We Out Here 2024 alongside Sampha, Corinne Bailey Rae and more.
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Laura Molloy
NME
