André 3000, the unpredictable rapper, producer and songwriter best known as one half of Outkast, is finally releasing a solo album. In a twist, it has no words.
Instead, “New Blue Sun,” due out Friday, is “a purely instrumental album with a focus on woodwinds,” according to an announcement Tuesday. The musician cites Laraaji, Brian Eno, Alice Coltrane, Steve Reich and Pharoah Sanders as influences and has swapped beats and raps for flutes and clarinets – a transition he began about two decades ago when Outkast came to an end.
“I have been interested in wind instruments for a long time, so it was a natural progression for me to play flutes,” André, 48, said in the announcement. “I just like playing around with instruments and I was particularly interested in wind instruments.”
The artist, born André Benjamin, last released an album on Outkast in 2006: “Idlewild,” the soundtrack to the duo’s film musical. “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” the group’s Grammy-winning double album, was released three years earlier.
Since then, André has appeared as a rapper on songs by Kesha, Beyoncé, Future, Kanye West and others, most recently on Killer Mike’s “Scientists & Engineers,” which was nominated last week for two Grammy Awards (Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song). ). In 2014, André and Big Boi reunited as Outkast for a series of festival concerts.
“I remember when I was about 25, I said, ‘I don’t want to be a 40-year-old rapper,'” André told the New York Times in 2014, when he was 39. “I still stand by it.” . I’m such a fan that I don’t want to infiltrate it with old blood.” He added: “I don’t sit around and write raps, I just don’t.” Now I’m only really inspired to write raps when an artist I enjoy inviting me to his party.”
The first track of “New Blue Sun” is 12 minutes long and is titled “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.” The eight-song ambient album includes “Ninety Three ‘Til Infinity and Beyoncé” and “Ghandi, Dalai Lama, Your Lord & Savior JC / Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy.”)
The album was co-produced by André and Carlos Niño and features contributions from guitarist Nate Mercereau and Surya Botofasina on keyboards and synthesizers. André’s playing includes a digital wind instrument, a Mayan flute and others made of wood and bamboo, the announcement said.
He has been hinting at his new, preferred musical direction for years. On Mother’s Day 2018, André released two songs on SoundCloud: “Me&My (To Bury Your Parents)” and “Look Ma No Hands”, which focus on the bass clarinet. And to discover musicians all over the world with their woodwinds Los Angeles Airport on the streets of Japan has become something of a game for fans.
In a new interview with NPR, André cited positive feedback for his ambient music from younger artists like Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean. “I don’t want to troll people,” André said. “I don’t want people to think: Oh, this André 3000 album is coming! And you play it and you’re like, oh man, no verses. Even on the packaging it says: “Warning: no bars.”
“In my opinion, I would really like to do a rap album,” he added in the announcement. “Maybe one day it will happen, but I have to find a way to say what I want to say in an interesting way that appeals to me at this age.”