This Friday is remarkable. Why? André 3000, one-half of the hip-hop duo Outkast, whose record Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the best-selling rap album of all time, has released his first solo LP. It’s not a hip-hop album. It’s an instrumental record of improvisational flute solos. It’s one hour and 27 minutes long. It’s getting all the spotlight this week.
The Best of New Music Friday:
André 3000 – New Blue Sun
André 3000 has not had a full-length record release since 2006. That’s when Outkast, made up of André 3000 and Big Boi, dropped Idlewild. They made southern hip-hop mainstream with their Atlanta touch. Then they parted ways before a brief reunion at festivals in 2014.
André 3000 has released a few singles since then. He’s appeared on Frank Ocean and Kanye West tracks. He expressed deep displeasure with hip-hop. It’s been radio silence otherwise.
That is until this week.
André 3000 shared that he would release eight instrumental songs. The first track is called “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.” It’s 12 minutes long.
New Blue Sun is a novelty in the word’s most respectable sense. It’s unique and unusual. It has superstar power. André 3000 rapped and sang his way to the top of the charts with “Ms. Jackson.” He wrote “Hey Ya!” and anyone who’s ever been to a party knows it. He had a Cartoon Network show. He has his own bobblehead. The starting price for the standard triple-album vinyl edition of New Blue Sun is $85. A record collector will whip it out and play it at an apartment hang with friends in 20 years. It will be the coolest record that person owns.
Again: André 3000 has released an instrumental flute album.
That may sound silly. Fans and internet dwellers alike will know André 3000 has recently gone viral for walking around playing his flute in public. That stood out to a lot of people. One of the most popular musicians ever hanging out around town with a woodwind? How could it not?
It even got the attention of jazz musician Carlos Niño. According to NPR, the two decided to meet up and record together in Los Angeles. The result was New Blue Sun. Other musicians include guitarist Nate Mercereau and keyboardist Surya Botofasina. André 3000 said he played New Blue Sun for Frank Ocean and Tyler, The Creator. They liked it, but he said their input was invaluable because it may feel weird for fans.
“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,'” he told NPR. “So even actually on the packaging, you’ll see it says, ‘Warning: no bars.’”
It’s quite relaxing. The whole album is spacey and the winds are drawn out. There are windchimes and other auxiliary percussion instruments. There’s no real “beat” on any of New Blue Sun’s tracks. Not even on “Ninety Three ’Til Infinity And Beyoncé.”
That’s another talking point. The track titles are absurd. Notable ones 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 “Ghandi, Dalai Lama, Your Lord & Savior J.C. / Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy.”
André 3000 says he would like to make a solo rap record one day. For now it’s instrumental flute albums. That’s cool. That’s cooler than being cool.
Imagine. The year is 3000. A room full of people with plastic cups will shout “Alright now ladies!” Somewhere else in the world, a few friends will be sitting around when someone suggests a soothing record be played. They will throw on New Blue Sun. They will kick back and get lost in the wavey crescendos of a song called “Dreams Once Buried Beneath the Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens.” Both parties will be celebrating the sounds of André 3000.
That’s a cemented legacy. This “I know fo sho.”
New Music Friday top picks:
2 Chainz & Lil Wayne – Welcome 2 Collegrove
Born At Midnite – “*69”
Daft Punk – Random Access Memories (Drumless Edition)
Eighty Ninety – “Ruins”
Everything Everything – “The Mad Stone”
Frankie Bird – ““If I’m Being Honest”
Laetitia Sadier – “Une Autre Attente”
Mannequin Pussy – “Sometimes”
Reyna Tropical – “Ya Va Pasar”
The Smile – “Wall of Eyes”
ZHU & Wax Motif – “Better Recognize”
Which of these tracks from New Music Friday will you be adding to your favorite playlists today? Any we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!
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