André 3000 was a part of Outkast, one of the defining hip-hop duos of the 2000s, and he’s finally ready to take his music in a new direction. He announced the release of his debut solo album New Blue Sun—and it’s probably not what you think.
Most people know André Benjamin aka André 3000 as a rapper, who gave us such iconic songs as “Hey Ya!” and “Ms. Jackson” during his time with Outkast. Those days are long behind him, and he’s now gearing up for the release of his debut album New Blue Sun, 17 years after leaving Outkast behind.
It’s important to note his debut album will be an instrumental jazz record that puts his abilities as a flutist front and center. He described it as “an entirely instrumental album centered around woodwinds” and “a celebratory piece of work in the form of a living, breathing, aural organism.”
New Blue Sun will feature eight tracks, with super-long titles that would put emo bands to shame, starting with “I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time.” André 3000 explained he opted for these titles because he wanted to have some fun with them since the songs on the album have no lyrics.
New Blue Sun will be released by Epic Records on November 17.
