André 3000 revealed uncertainty in his musical direction as he transitioned into playing the flute last November, releasing New Blue Sun, an album that showcases his experimentation with the instrument.
Speaking on LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s podcast, “The Shop,” the Outkast luminary emphasized that his venture into flute music was not driven by any particular agenda or aspiration to become a jazz artist.
“I love jazz music,” he said. “I don’t want people to think that I’m trying to be a jazz musician. I don’t take myself that seriously. 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.”
New Blue Sun was the first album André 3000 released in 17 years, marking the end of a long hiatus from new music.
The album, which diverged significantly from his well-known Hip-Hop roots, left fans and critics alike both intrigued and puzzled. Three Stacks said he wanted to challenge the perceived elitism within the jazz genre and inject a sense of playfulness and humanity into the music.
“Jazz is a studied music, so I just try to humanize,” he said. “Even with the title of the album I was just trying to poke fun at it, have fun.”
One thing I love about Andre 3000 is that he always goes out of his way to show love to Devin The Dude and Odd Squad.
Devin is one of my favorite artists of all time and an extraordinary talent. Play their collab “What A Job” if you’ve never heard it… pic.twitter.com/Mig5GGG4Zp
— Andrew Barber (@fakeshoredrive) July 17, 2024
André 3000 announced his triumphant return in November 2023—but it wasn’t exactly what longtime Outkast fans were expecting. Instead of a proper Hip-Hop album, it’s 87 minutes of experimental jazz primarily composed using his instrument of choice, the flute.
But the tracklist was even more mind-blowing. In a post making the rounds on Reddit, the titles of eight tracks were displayed in all their glory. The first one, however, was perhaps the most telling: “I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time.”
Other titles include: “The Slang Word P (*)ssy Rolls Off The Tongue With Far Better Ease Than The Proper Word V#####. Do You Agree?” and “Dreams Once Buried Beneath The Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens.”
As for the intro to the album, André 3000 explained why he opted to release a bar-less album, saying, “There’s this misconception that I just won’t do it. I think people feel like I’m sitting around on rap albums, or sitting around and I’m just not putting them out in that way. And no it’s not like that… In my mind, I really would like to make a rap album. So maybe that happens one day, but I got to find a way to say what I want to say in an interesting way that’s appealing to me at this age.”
