17 Years In The Making

The legendary and even somewhat mythical André 3000 has finally announced his first ever solo project, 17 years after Outkast’s last album dropped in 2006. But there is a caveat to this album… It is all instrumental, specifically an instrumental flute album. This announcement shocked some people even more than the album itself, but to understand why Andre is making a flute album, why it has no raps, and why it has taken 17 years for someone of legendary status to make a solo project, we need to understand who Andre “3000” Benjamin is and where he has been these last 17 years.

After the breakup of Outkast, unlike his fellow Outkast member Big Boi, who stayed relatively active after the breakup, André stayed relatively quiet despite being the more popular and talented member of the two. André didn’t try to pursue a solo career. Instead, he chose to go down other creative paths, such as creating a clothing brand in 2008 called “Benjamin Bixby,” which unfortunately did not turn into a successful clothing line. 3000 was also the creator of a Cartoon Network show at this time called “Class of 3000.” Unlike Benjamin Bixby, Class of 3000 was well received and went on for two seasons before being canceled for a flurry of reasons. Now, all of this doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved in music; he continued to do features for many artists of many genres, including but not limited to Frank Ocean, Beyonce, Drake, Killer Mike, John Legend, and A Tribe Called Quest. In that time frame, having just done features, he has still managed to pick up six Grammy nominations and one Grammy win, as well as two more nominations this year.

But why now? Why, after 17 years, does he decide to drop his debut solo release and not even make it a rap album? Well, Andre has been adamant in interviews that he would like to make a rap album, but that it just doesn’t make sense for where he is in life. He doesn’t understand why someone of his age would be rapping as much as he wishes he was. But what does make sense to André is a fully instrumental flute album with no raps or bars.

After having listened to the album in full, it’s difficult to give it a clear ranking or rating because how do you rank an ambient jazz flute album? It sounds very well thought out and put together. The best way I could describe the listening experience is as if you were walking through a forest in a video game, and this was the background music they were playing. I personally enjoy the album, but there are plenty who don’t because it’s just not what people expected or wanted. People wanted a rap album, but instead they got flutes and instrumentals. I respect the artistry of what André did, and I personally enjoy it, but I also understand people’s frustrations with not receiving a rap album from him. But even with the frustrations, disappointments, and success, it does not change the fact that André 3000 made a very good, very interesting album. Nothing can take away from the fact that Andre is a musical artist, not just a rapper who will not allow himself to be pigeonholed into what people expect of him because he never has allowed those expectations to affect what he does, and “New Blue Sun” is the perfect example of that artistry.