Outkast’s André 3000 has the internet shook after announcing his first solo album in 17 years. “New Blue Sun” drops on Nov. 17, but fans won’t hear a project full of bars as expected. Reportedly, the album entirely features the recording artist playing the flute.
According to NPR, there will be no rapping, bars, beats, singing, or sub-bass. What it does have is the “Hey Ya!” artist playing woodwind instruments. The title of the first track, “I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time,” immediately explains to expect the unexpected.
André 3000 — whose real name is André Lauren Benjamin — told NPR that his new album was inspired by where he was in his life creatively.
“I don’t want to troll people,” explained Benjamin. “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.’ It’s letting you know what it is off the top.”
“I love rap music because it was a part of my youth,” he continued. “So I would love to be out here with everybody rapping because it’s almost like fun and being on the playground. 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.”
Other song titles include “That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control … Sh¥t Was Wild” and “The Slang Word P(*)ssy Rolls Off The Tongue With Far Better Ease Than The Proper Word Vagina . Do You Agree?”
Fans reacted to the new album on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and one excited fan shared the 2019 video of Lizzo playing the flute while Megan Thee Stallion twerked along with the caption, “Me when Andre 3000 drops that flute album on Friday…”
“Imma need a Lizzo versus Andre 3000 classy flute twerk off on my 2024 calendar,” replied another fan.
After Outkast’s Big Boi shared Andre 3000’s album announcement on X, another fan replied with a gif of a man playing the bagpipes with the caption, “featuring Big Boi on bagpipes.”
Naima Cochrane, journalist and music industry veteran, poked fun at the names of the song titles on the album and replied, “Are we sure ‘New Blue Sun’ isn’t a collection of essays?”
One fan replied, “I’ll listen to him read A Cat in the Hat over the flute. I’m with it!”
The “Ms. Jackson” artist says he owns about 30-40 flutes, and he began learning how to play the instrument after hearing surfer Kassia Meador play.
“The style that I started with was introduced to me by Kassia. She’s a world-class surfer and she was playing this flute at this breathwork class,” he recalled to NPR. “As soon as she started playing, my ears popped up. I’m like, what is that sound? I had to go up to her and ask her. And she introduced me to my flute master, the guy that makes my flutes, Guillermo Martinez. And that style of flute that he makes was my intro into flutes.”
Benjamin added that he has flutes from several countries and continents, including Thailand, China, Korea, and Africa.
“I’m happy. I’m happy when I’m playing. I’m exploring when I’m playing. I’m thinking when I’m playing. I wouldn’t say that it’s a set-out meditation, but I do think you get into a meditative practice for staying in the moment and doing a repetition of something. Actually, every time when I’m playing, I’m making it up as I’m going along.”
During the hour-long interview, the 48-year-old also shared that his song, “That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control Sh¥t Was Wild,” was inspired by him taking the psychedelic drug ayahuasca during a trip to Hawaii.
“New Blue Sun” drops on Nov. 17.
