André 3000 is among the select few who can get away with saying something even remotely negative about OutKast, and he has now singled out their final album for potentially blemishing their résumé.
On Thursday (November 16), GQ shared an interview with the Southern rap icon as he prepares to release his first-ever solo album later this week. During the chat, he discussed the success he and Big Boi enjoyed at an early age and how it kept proliferating with each album.
“It was a blessing to be successful that young,” he said. “I think our career is kind of interesting because since our very first album, we’ve gone platinum and just kept rising. Like, so next album was double, next three — it just kept rising.”
The conversation then shifted to the duo’s second to last album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which recently became the best-selling rap album of all time after being certified 13x platinum.
“We haven’t taken a fall, y’know what I mean?” he added. “And I think sometimes you build character or you build something by failure. Idlewild may have been our slip. You never know — the only thing you can do is be honest about what you’re doing at the time.”
Watch the 48-year-old discuss OutKast’s discography at the 24:06 mark below:
The elusive Three Stacks made a surprise return to social media earlier this week to reveal that his new project, New Blue Sun, will drop on Friday (November 17).
It will serve as his first official solo album, although he did release a disc of his own material on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below in 2003.
Earlier this week, NPR published an interview with the Atlanta legend in which he discussed the upcoming record as well as the woodwind instrument that is central to its sound.
He shared that New Blue Sun is not a rap record. In fact, it doesn’t even feature any vocals from him. Instead, it’s “a stunning 87-minute mind-bender, minimalist and experimental, tribal and transcendent” that finds the reclusive rap icon showcasing his talents on a range of flutes.
There are no guest appearances from fellow Hip Hop heavyweights either, though jazz musicians such as Carlos Niño, Surya Botofasina and Nate Mercereau have contributed to the tracklist.
I’m excited to hear this. As I’ve always loved many genres, it is great to hear him express his new journey.
it’s almost like mediation or music you’d try to fall asleep to. That’s not a knock on it, but go into it with the expectation that you’re not going to be tapping your toes or anything. No drums (at least not at the halfway point….).
Nobody really considered Idlewild an Outkast album though. It was a soundtrack to a movie that had a 1930’s feel. Hard AF to create music around that.
First 3 LPs are the best, arguably all classics. I think they peaked on Aquemini, critically that is. Stankonia is good but not up to par with the first 3. SB/TLB ain’t a group album so i don’t count it. Good in its own way but not a Kast album, only is in name. Idlewild is ok for what it is, not a true group album either. Not banking on it, but like Tribe, maybe one day we’ll be lucky to get a good final album from them to close their chapter.
Can’t agree more. I only doubt that we’ll get another real Outkast album. But who knows…
Pretty spot on there. Thing is, the first three were so good that Stankonia felt a bit like a let down because it wasn’t perfect, but still a 4-4.5 out of 5 (to me) and had some of their greatest hits. I feel like they could have cut a few songs and some of the interludes and it would be looked at differently.
We need and want one more traditional OutKast album. I do not care what Andre 3000 is saying, he still knows how to rap. People will criticize anything…everything but so what! We supported OutKast from the beginning and still support OutKast today. Give us that rap album guys!
Knowing how to do something, and having the desire to do it, are two completely different things.
You see artists from other genres make music till they’re elderly but rappers feel that after a certain age they can’t rap anymore, its ridiculous to think only young people like rap. If you’re a rapper and turned 50 then you must have fans that grew older as well, it’s not like you hit a certain age and now you must listen to other stuff, you can be 50 and still listen to rap because that’s what you like, regardless of the age the fans are still out there