Any hip-hop fan knows that an Andre 3000 solo album has become a pipe dream. And while die-hard Outkast fans may never truly abandon hope, there comes a time in which one must simply allow Andre to follow his own narrative. As it stands, Andre's current trajectory doesn't exactly feature much in the way of rapping, but that doesn't mean the elusive emcee has lost his creative drive. Far from it - he's simply redistributing his creative energy to different musical lanes.
In a lengthy interview with Complex, Andre 3000 shares his philosophy on his current place in hip-hop:
"It’s more like a hobby for me, so I don’t think about it in that way. Even with Outkast — if we never do another album, I’m totally fine with that. When I was 25, I said I don’t want to be a 30-year-old rapper. I’m 42 now, and I feel more and more that way. Do I really want to be 50 years old up there doing that? When I watch other rappers that are my age I commend them, but I just wonder where the inspiration is coming from. At this stage I’m really more focused on what I am going to be doing 10 years from now. And I hope to God it won’t be rapping.”
If hip-hop is a young man's game, it's clear that Andre clearly intends on aging gracefully. "“No matter how great you are or were at a certain time, the older you get, the slower you get—I don’t care who you are. And I can feel that coming on. There’s always a new wave of artists, and sometimes I’m just like, ‘I’m good. I’ll let the young guys do it.’"
On that note, the ATLien has some high praise for fellow Atlanta rapper Young Thug, whom Andre calls "exciting." He continues his praise by stating "he’s all over the place. To do those things he does, you have to have big fuckin’ balls. It’s almost harder than the guy who’s portraying hard, you know?"
