André 3000 to release his first solo album in 17 years this week – but there’ll be no rapping of any kind, he says
New Blue Sun will be out on 17 November.
Image: Paul R. Giunta / Getty Images
André 3000 is releasing his first solo album in 17 years this week, though fans who are expecting some new bars from the OutKast legend might find themselves surprised with 87 minutes of experimental flute music instead.
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Set to be released on Friday, 17 November, New Blue Sun is said to feature no bars, no beats, and certainly no singing from André 3000 himself. You do, however, get a variety of woodwind instruments, including contrabass flute, Mayan flutes, bamboo flutes as well as other digital wind instruments.
The album will feature eight tracks, and leading the way is a 12-minute song cheekily titled I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.
“I have songs but it’s not like rap things that I really feel happy about sharing,” the musician told NPR in a new interview. “And really, that’s the most important part. I have to feel happy about sharing it. That’s why New Blue Sun was something that I realised, whoa, I really want people to hear it. I really want to share it. That’s my only gauge.”
“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.’”
André 3000 also revealed that he sought the opinion of fellow musicians like Tyler, The Creator and Frank Ocean during the album’s making: “I started just playing it for friends and playing it for artists and playing it for people I respect or people who I felt would get it,” he said. “It was just good for me to hear with somebody else.”
New Blue Sun is now up for pre-order. Check out the full tracklist below.
- I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A “Rap” Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time
- The Slang Word P(*)ssy Rolls Off The Tongue With Far Better Ease Than The Proper Word Vagina . Do You Agree?
- 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
- BuyPoloDisorder’s Daughter Wears A 3000™ Button Down Embroidered
- Ninety Three ‘Til Infinity And Beyoncé
- Ghandi, Dalai Lama, Your Lord & Savior J.C. / Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, And John Wayne Gacy
- Ants To You, Gods To Who?
- Dreams Once Buried Beneath The Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens
