André 3000 – New Blue Sun (Album Review)
As a devoted fan of OutKast, Dungeon Family and specifically André 3000, I was thrilled when I came across the news that he was releasing his first-ever solo album with New Blue Sun.
The idea of 3000’s first solo release has been the ‘great white buffalo’ for hip-hop fans and enthusiasts for almost two decades-and finally the day comes — but it’s not what was imagined by his cult following.
I’ve tuned in to every feature verse and collaboration André 3000 has dropped over the years. He consistently owns every track he touches, so I knew that his first solo release would be something out of this world.
Turns out it’s possibly one of the most grounded pieces of work I’ve heard from a mainstream artist in the rap/hip-hop/RnB genre.
Clocking in at a mesmerizing 87 minutes, New Blue Sun is 8 tracks of skillfully modern flute, controlled by the wind of one of the greatest lyricists of all time and not one word exists for its entirety.
At first… I felt the sting of disappointment.
Then I realized and thought of Andre’s mystique, genius, maturity, and passion and I became more intrigued with the thought of the album and the level of ascension it represents on so many levels.
The current state of true artistry in hip-hop and music in general as a whole is devolving.
The artists that birthed the influence that led to a wave, have transcended the waters of simply releasing music for a paycheck. Most have outgrown the music industry all together. But when the legends, the enigmas, the trendsetters, release music, they give us music out of passion, curiosity, evolution, and inspiration.
New Blue Sun is the epitome of that concept.
André took an interest, turned it into a hobby, which evolved into a niche and grew into a passion that he cultivated with masters of his genre and he graced us with that.
Even with the stigma of this being an experimental woodwind album, from the tracklist-opening with “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time,” to the interviews that preceded the drop, its all 100% Andre Benjamin aka Andre 3000 aka ThreeStacks to the core.
There’s a steady peace and spiritual tranquility that peaks through each track of the album. You hear very subtle remnants of classics like “Idlewild” and “Love Below”. All given from the gentle, meditational, exploratory journey of arguably the greatest rapper of all time.