André 3000 has likened himself to Lil B, stating that he makes jazz like the Hip Hop oddball approaches rap music.
In an interview with the Recording Academy that was published on Wednesday (September 25), 3 Stacks was asked who he considers his peers in his new genre.
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He explained: “A long line of historical bands like Sun Ra, the Chicago Art Ensemble. Even rapper Lil B. I was joking to myself: I was like, I’m almost the Lil B of this type of music. Lil B is, they call it based rap. My son actually turned me on to Lil B.”
He continued: “Because a lot of what he’s doing is made up or improv or really reactionary. It’s not this studied, perfect thing. Because I came up in the ‘90s, we came up with Nas and Wu-Tang and some of the [people] considered the best rappers around. It was about clarity. It was more of a studied kind of thing.
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“A person like Lil B is not studied at all. But the way the kids respond to him, it’s because of that. It’s kind of like a punk way of rapping, and I like it. [And what I’m doing is] almost like punk jazz or punk spiritual jazz. It’s pure feeling.”
Last month, the Outkast legend released a new film to accompany his New Blue Sun album – nearly a year since the album came out.
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He premiered Listening To The Sun and described it as an “intimate” film.
The ambient instrumental project, partly built around André 3000’s flute playing, divided fans following its release last November due to its lack of rapping.
LL COOL J was among those disappointed by the project and shared his brutally honest thoughts on LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The Shop earlier this year.
“Listen, he is amazing. His bars are all the way up. Not the flute, B. Not the flute,” he said. “Let’s not lie to ourselves. I don’t wanna hear him do the flute. You wanna hear me do a violin album?”
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The New York native also urged 3 Stacks to return to rap, saying: “I wanna hear him get with Big Boi, I want them to make an OutKast [album] or [for him] to do a solo album. Every time he does a verse, it’s enough material for an album! He’s so gifted. So it’s like, ‘Come on, B. Not the flute.’ That man needs to know the truth.”
