Andre 3000 Reveals That His Shift To Ambient Jazz Was Unplanned

He joked about how it "just kinda happened."

BYLavender AlexandriaMar 22, 20241226 Views

Last year, Andre 3000 released his long-awaited debut solo album New Blue Sun. The project surprised and divided much of his fanbase as it saw him shifting his style away from rap entirely into ambient jazz music which prominently featured him playing the flute. Many fans praised his willingness to step so far outside of his comfort zone and try a new style, while others were disappointed that they waited so long specifically for a new rap album from 3k.

Now during a recent performance he gave even more insight into how he arrived at the shift in style. A video captured by a fan depicts his discussion of the process. “‘How you just gon’ be rapping and then just get on stage playing f*cking flutes? Like, I didn’t plan to be the flute n*gga. I didn’t plan to be that. It just kinda, like, it happened. When I started rapping, I didn’t know what it would be. It was just me and Big Boi at the crib watching rap videos," he explained. "We all freestyling. We all making this shit up as we go along. We have intentions but we don’t really know," he concluded. Check out the full video below.

Andre 3000 Talks About Arriving At New Sound

Earlier this month, Andre 3000 reunited with his former Outkast partner Big Boi. Unsurprisingly, Big Boi had some jokes to crack about the new artistic direction Andre has been on, but it was obviously all in good faith. Andre also revealed in an interview that Big Boi shared his reaction to New Blue Sun after hearing it. He expressed pride in his fellow rap legend's commitment to shifting his aesthetic.

What do you think of Andre 3000's comments on how he arrived at his new style of ambient flute music? Do you believe him that he never set out to drastically shift genres and it just happened to work out that way? 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.