Andre 3000 Is Totally Fine With Never Making OutKast Music Again
I’m not going to argue with him, honestly.
Andre 3000 told Complex in his newest interview that he was fine never doing another album for the super group OutKast. And you have to admit, that’s a big thing for him to say, but if you think about it, he’s got a great reason for it.
He says:
“It’s really just an excitement thing, and where I am in life. I kind of like not being a part of [rap], now that I’ve done it. As I get older, I start to see myself move more back from it—the hustle and bustle of putting out an album, the pressure of being in the studio trying to come up with something. Now it’s more like a hobby for me, so I don’t think about it in that way. Even with Outkast — if we never do another album, I’m totally fine with that. When I was 25, I said I don’t want to be a 30-year-old rapper. I’m 42 now, and I feel more and more that way. Do I really want to be 50 years old up there doing that? When I watch other rappers that are my age I commend them, but I just wonder where the inspiration is coming from. At this stage I’m really more focused on what I am going to be doing 10 years from now. And I hope to God it won’t be rapping.”
With artists, especially more of the Rock genre, you find that over time when they get older, their work tends to fall off. For example, think of someone like Blink-182. Different lineup, and the fact that they are much older and writing songs about the same thing they were when they were teenagers. Sorry, Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, and now Matt Skiba. We’re not into it.
Andre’s comparison of being 50 years old and doing the same old shtick would be frustrating for him, and I honestly don’t blame him. Sure, Jay-Z, Diddy, and Dr. Dre are all out there getting theirs, but with such a pristine catalog that OutKast has, would you want them to come out with an album and then that album not be as good after all these years? Probably not.
As a fan of OutKast’s catalog, it makes me think of a line that Andre spit in the song “Rosa Parks,” where he makes the note that he was sour because his favorite group wasn’t “coming with it.” He doesn’t want that to be him, and I’m totally fine with that.
Amy Cooper is the type of journalist that when asked “What do you bring to the table,” she replies “I am the table.
