c/o André 3000
In André 3000’s first solo album, New Blue Sun, he does something unexpected. Widely regarded as one of the best rappers of all time for his hip-hop duo, Outkast—which is known for hits such as “Ms. Jackson” and “Hey, Ya!”—André 3000 forfeits this title to explore a new lyric-less ambiance in his new record. Mindful of disappointing his devoted audience, he acknowledges this transition in the title of the album’s first song: “I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time.” In listening to the album, one can feel André’s sense of the wind, as the serene, ambient sounds take the audience to an almost nirvana-like place for the 87 minutes in which he explores this genre-bending, semi-jazz, semi-electronic music.
Despite the improvised electric flute flowing through the entire record, each song feels distinct in its presentation. Some tracks seem to embrace the flute’s fluidity in a way that highlights the ebbs and flows of the melodic movements, while others feel more structured in their arrangement, embracing the conversational aspect of the many other instruments. But to put his music into the genre of an ambient record would fail to highlight the uniqueness of this project. And that’s exactly what André does not want: to be put into a box.
While I originally attempted to write a review for this album, I realized that there is no way to describe or qualify this work. Perhaps this is my failure as a writer in not having an expansive enough vocabulary to properly illustrate the intriguing sounds that André explores. That is not to say that this album is revolutionary. The combination of new-age jazz, ambient music, and organic noise has been an ever-expanding genre in the past decade. Yet André 3000 warns us of the restrictive pressures of audience expectations.
Many artists make transitions between genres or produce genre-bending music. A famous example is Taylor Swift, who has successfully transitioned from her country music roots to a pop sound. Last year, Doja Cat also announced her transition away from what she self-described as cash-grabbing pop music. However, few artists have completely transformed toward a lyric-less sound. André rejected his rhymes, and his pen and paper, to learn an instrument he had never played: a handmade flute. And he warns of this transition on the cover of his album: “No Bars!”
Clearly, André 3000 is not looking for a bestselling, chart-topping new hit album. Instead, he is doing what many artists do not do: rejecting the audience’s expectations. Although this may not be his most lucrative or successful album, André does not seem to care. His Spotify biography describes him as an artist who has “been marred by our collective capitalist greed.” In the age when artists seek to capitalize upon their music with new sound bites for TikTok, André 3000 serves as an antithesis to this growing trend.
It is so refreshing to see this authenticity in an age where mass-produced music has seemed to lose its artistry. Thanks to social media, artists seem increasingly obsessed with their audience’s reactions.
In the coming year, I hope more artists will reject our capitalistic greed and explore genres that resonate with them, rather than what is most likely to climb the Billboard Hot 100. André 3000’s New Blue Sun is a powerful rejection of economic and societal pressures in favor of expression that feels genuine and resonates with the artist. In allowing ourselves the opportunity to branch out of the pressures of the rest of the world, we too can find a sound that resonates with us, although mine will probably not be the electric flute. But who knows?
Carter Appleyard can be reached at cappleyard@wesleyan.edu.