It has been almost 20 years since 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees Outkast dropped their last album, Idlewild. While Big Boi has since dropped a few hip-hop albums over the years, André 3000 mostly left the genre behind, aside from a guest appearance here and there.
Now, the beloved Atlanta rap legend has explained why, for him, “it feels inauthentic” to write raps. “People think, ‘Oh man, he’s just sitting on raps.’ Or ‘he’s just…holding these raps hostage,’ I ain’t got no raps like that,” André said in a 2023 interview.
“Sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap, because I don’t have anything to talk about in that way,” the “Hey Ya!” singer explained. “I’m 48 years old. Not to say that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about, but in a way, it does.”
André then said sarcastically, “Things that happen in my life. Like, what do you talk [about]? I got to go get a colonoscopy, like, what do you rap about? You know what I mean? My eyesight is going bad?”
“But you’re not just any rapper,” the interviewer pushed back. “You’re a top-five to many people. To me. It’s like you’re basically being like, ‘I have a very beautiful sports car in the garage, but I choose never to drive it.” Which is your talent.”
In response, André said, “Talent is one thing, but honestly, I think timing and momentum is more important than talent.”
André 3000 received three Grammy nominations in 2024 for his jazz flute album
The last time that André 3000 rapped on a track, as far as I can tell, was in 2023. He did a verse on Killer Mike’s song “Scientists & Engineers”. The track also featured Future and Eryn Allen Kane.
It was a 2023 jazz flute album, dubbed New Blue Sun, that actually became André’s first new music in 17 years. Fascinatingly, it was his debut solo project. In 2024, the album received three Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year and Best Alternative Jazz Album.
Funnily enough, the very first song on New Blue Sun is titled “I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time”. That track was nominated for Best Instrumental Composition.
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