André 3000 to Release Debut Solo LP This Week
We just compiled a list of November albums to watch out for here on the Live365 blog, but due to a huge surprise, we seemed to have missed a monumental one. And what is that LP? André 3000's solo album debut.
The OutKast rapper will be dropping the project this Friday, November 17. It's called New Blue Sun and much to everyone's surprise, will not feature any rap bars. Instead, it's an instrumental record with a variety of flutes. Contrabass flute, Mayan flutes, bamboo flutes, and digital wind instruments are featured heavily, NPR reports.
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The album was born out of jam sessions between André 3000 and percussionist Carlos Niño. They introduced keyboardist Surya Botofasina and guitarist Nate Mercereau to the fold, recording the improvisations that comprise the LP. Of the new direction, André 3000 told NPR, “It’s not like I don’t try or it’s not like I have a lot of these songs just sitting—I have songs but it’s not like rap things that I really feel happy about sharing. And really, that’s the most important part. I have to feel happy about sharing it. That’s why New Blue Sun was something that I realized, whoa, I really want people to hear it. I really want to share it.”
Other instrumentalists on New Blue Sun include Deantoni Parks, Diego Gaeta, Matthewdavid, V.C.R, Diego Gaeta, Jesse Peterson, and Mia Doi Todd. Along the way, both Frank Ocean and Tyler, the Creator offered encouragement to André 3000 when he was creating the record.
In the past decade and a half, André 3000 has sporadically guested on other artists’ tracks, released singles like “Me&My (To Bury Your Parents),” and reunited OutKast to tour with Big Boi. Unlike his former bandmate, André 3000 has avoided longform releases of his own, making New Blue Sun his first full-length since the 2006 Outkast LP Idlewild. During his time away from the public eye, André 3000 occasionally surfaced as an eccentric, wandering figure in Atlanta, in airports, and around the world – images have been passed among fans online.
See André 3000's official album announcement below.
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Article Image: Close-up of André 3000 at an event in 2005. (s_bukley via DepositPhotos.)