André 3000 has revealed the encouraging words he received from Prince following a lackluster OutKast show nearly a decade ago.
In a new interview with GQ to promote his new album New Blue Sun, the Atlanta-bred lyricist recalled a low point during his and Big Boi‘s 2014 reunion tour that led to the Purple One to come calling.
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“I ain’t been on stage in damn near 15, 20 years! So it was odd for me,” he said of OutKast’s headlining performance at Coachella, which received mixed reviews. “And right before the show, you see Paul McCartney walk and go to the left side of the stage. And then Prince walks to the right side of the stage. I’m like, ‘Ahhh! What the fuck, man?!’
“You know, there’s new technology like ear buds and shit. I’d never used ear buds in my life! We were always just in front of the monitors or listening to the speakers, so if you were watching the Coachella show, I got people in my ear talking and shit. It’s like ‘What the hell is going on?!'”
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He continued: “Halfway through the show, I was already checked out […] so I was just trying to get through it. Yeah, the show happens and it was a bomb night. It was horrible — in my eyes.”
André 3000 then revealed that Prince phoned him up the day after the disappointing set and helped lift his spirits.
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“The very next morning I get a call from Prince,” he said. “I don’t know him like that, I don’t know how he got my number — I do not know. And the first thing he says is, ‘You know what your problem is? You don’t realize how big y’all are.’
“Then he was like, ‘You gotta remind people who you are.’ And from that point on, I was like, ‘Okay.’”
Watch his comments at the 26:25 mark below:
Elsewhere in the interview, André 3000 spoke about his long-awaited solo album New Blue Sun — which dropped on Friday (November 17) — and his decision to ditch rapping (or even singing) for an entirely instrumental project showcasing his flute skills.
“People think, ‘Oh, man, he’s just sitting on raps.’ Or, ‘He’s just holding these raps hostage.’ I ain’t got no raps like that,” he admitted. “Sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap because I don’t have anything to talk about in that way.
“I’m 48 years old, and not to say that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about, but in a way it does. Like, I gotta get a colonoscopy? What do you rap about? My eyesight is going bad?”
Stream New Blue Sun below:
