André 3000 reacts to Grammy nominations for flute album ‘New Blue Sun’: “I was totally surprised by this”
André 3000 has reacted to his Grammy nominations for jazz album ‘New Blue Sun’, which was notably picked to compete in the album of the year category.
In an interview with The New York Times, the Outkast member – real name André Benjamin – said that he had just woken up while on tour when the nominations were announced last Friday (November 8).
“We were trying to be nominated in some type of way for alternative jazz or ambient, possibly,” he admitted. “But I was totally surprised by this. So yeah, it was super, super, super duper cool.”
‘New Blue Sun’ – an instrumental jazz album that sees Benjamin perform the flute – has been nominated for album of the year, best alternative jazz album, and best instrumental composition for the album’s opening track, ‘I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a “Rap” Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time’.
The interviewer also mentioned to Benjamin about how Outkast’s 2004 mega-hit album ‘Speakerboxxx/The Love Below’ was the last rap album to win album of the year, to which he surmised that “rap may not be important” to the voters.
“I must say that even though ‘Speakerboxxx/The Love Below’ was the last rap album, it was half a rap album. So even in that, it’s saying, well, we enjoyed something more than rap.”
Benjamin is nominated for the awards ceremony’s top album prize alongside Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Jacob Collier, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift. See the full list of nominations here.
In August, Benjamin shared Listening To The Sun, a full-length visual featuring the music of ‘New Blue Sun’ – it sees André deeply immersed in his album while lounging in a mysterious blue room.
Earlier this year, explaining the new creative direction of ‘New Blue Sun’, Benjamin 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.”
It’s a comment that sparked controversy in the rap world, with LL COOL J, Ja Rule, Killer Mike and Lil Wayne among those who expressed dismay towards his decision. The latter said it was “so depressing” that André 3000 felt “too old” to rap, while Ja Rule said he was “heartbroken” that the album contained “no bars”.
More recently, he performed an intimate set in London before a divisive performance at All Points East.
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Daniel Peters
NME
