Andre 3000 On Fan Response To His New Album: "I Don't Know What Else I Could Do"

BYLavender AlexandriaPublished on December 07, 20232.2K Views

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 28: Rapper Andre 3000 of Outkast performs onstage during the BET Experience at L.A. Live on June 28, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paul R. Giunta/FilmMagic)

Some fans were still hoping for a rap album.

Last month, Andre 3000 returned with his debut solo album New Blue Sun. The project represented the end of a very long drought in new releases from the legendary rapper. He hadn't appeared extensively on a full-length album since the final Outkast project Idlewild in 2006. When he announced the new project he made sure that all his fans knew what to expect. He made it clear that there was no rapping, or no vocals of any kind on the project.

When the album did finally drop fans were somehow still surprised to find it contained nothing even resembling rap. The record is a long and indulgent ambient jazz instrumental album. Critics were mixed on the record with many praising Andre's bold artistic risk. Others were less impressed and those more familiar with the genre felt that what he delivered wasn't particularly innovative. But in a recent interview with CBS Mornings Andre seemed more concerned with what fans thought of the record than critics. Check out his full interview below.

Andre 3000 On Fan Responses To His Album

Andre 3000 was surprised and seemingly let down by some of the fan reactions to his new album. “Even on the artwork it says, ‘No bars,’ so if you’re disappointed, man, I don’t know what else I could do. I don’t like that people are upset a little bit about it," he says in the new interview. But part of him also seems to understand where fans are coming from. “If I were waiting for a thing for 17 years, a certain thing that I’m looking for and, something else shows up, I’d probably be upset too."

Later in the interview he discusses still being considered a rapper at all. "To be a rapper, you gotta be rapping. I haven’t been rapping, like I don’t hang around the studio, I don’t sit and try to rap every day like when I was younger, and that’s all I did. I miss those times a lot, but life changes, life moves on.” What do you think of Andre 3000's comments about fan responses to his new ambient jazz album? Let us know in the comment section below.

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About The Author

Lavender Alexandria

Lavender Alexandria is a music and culture journalist based in Los Angeles, California. She’s covered dozens of musical genres and styles from the most mainstream to the most experimental and underground on her blog and accompanying YouTube channel that looks at music, pop culture, and Billboard charts since 2017: Lav’s Music Corner. Lavender has produced editorial and listicle content both in written and video form over the past far years and has also interviewed up-and-coming artists like Censored Dialogue. Her experiences covering culture have taken her from Hyperpop parties in LA to underground rap shows in Atlanta, to DIY punk shows in Charlotte. Lavender has also written for iHeartRadio, covering some of the biggest artists in Hip Hop such as Ice Spice, Drake, Doja Cat and Cardi B. She also has bylines with ScreenRant and continues to write for Ringtone magazine. Lavender is a lifelong Charlotte Hornets fan and her favorite rap artists include Clipping, Little Simz, Earl Sweatshirt, and Kendrick Lamar.