André 3000 finally has a new album coming out, but it’s not a rap project – and unfortunately for fans, they shouldn’t expect one. At least not for a while.
The elusive OutKast talent spoke to NPR for a new interview published on Monday (November 14), a few days ahead of the release of his first album in over 17 years, New Blue Sun.
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If the tracklist wasn’t telling enough for fans – as the first song is titled “I Really Wanted To Make A Rap Album, But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time” – Three Stacks elaborated on why rap isn’t happening for him right now in the conversation.
“I don’t want to troll people. I don’t want people to think, Oh, this André 3000 album is coming! And you play it and like, Oh man, no verses. So even actually on the packaging, you’ll see it says, “Warning: no bars,” he explained. “It’s letting you know what it is off the top. But also, I love rap music because it was a part of my youth. So I would love to be out here with everybody rapping, because it’s almost like fun and being on the playground.”
He continued: “I would love to be out here playing with everybody, but it’s just not happening for me. This is the realest thing that’s coming right now. Not to say that I would never do it again, but those are not the things that are coming right now. And I have to present what’s given to me at the time.
“So the title, ‘I Really Wanted To Make A Rap Album, But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time’ [is] because this album is about wind and breathing. In that way, it is true. It is literally blowing me this way and I’m blowing flutes and I’m blowing digital instruments.”
New Blue Sun serves as André 3000’s first official solo album, although he did release a disc of solo material on OutKast’s Grammy-winning 2003 double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.
The album — which doesn’t feature any lyrics — also marks the Atlanta native’s first full-length offering since his and Big Boi‘s 2006 LP Idlewild.
Instead, it’s “a stunning 87-minute mind-bender, minimalist and experimental, tribal and transcendent” that finds the reclusive rap icon showcasing his talents on a range of flutes — the instrument he’s often seen playing during rare public appearances.
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There are no guest appearances from fellow Hip Hop heavyweights, either, but instrumental contributions from jazz musicians such as Carlos Niño, Surya Botofasina and Nate Mercereau.
