The 2025 Grammy nominations were announced earlier this month, and André 3000’s instrumental album New Blue Sunscored a big nod in the Album Of The Year category. It remains to be seen if the project will secure the win, but in the meantime, André is busy preparing some new material to launch in 2025.
In an interview at Camp Flog Gnaw, André was asked what his 2025 plans look like, and he responded, “New music, for sure. New ways to distribute and express. I don’t want to pinpoint what it is, but I just want to express more. Put it like that.”
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Touré (as Billboard notes), Andre was asked if he has new material in the works, and he said, “At this point, I’m just trying to keep the momentum. There’s such a thing as creative momentum. The next stuff is very interesting, too. We’re almost a third — or halfway — into it. […] I don’t know when it will be ready. Who knows.”
Along with that, André also just shared an 11-minute documentary about the making of New Blue Sun, viewable here. He shared the video on November 17, which was the one-year anniversary of the album’s release.
André 3000 recently revealed a surprising detail about his long-awaited debut solo album, New Blue Sun. Despite its critical acclaim and a nomination for Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammys, the project doesn’t count toward fulfilling his contract with Epic Records. In an interview with journalist Touré, the OutKast icon shared his initial confusion and eventual understanding of this contractual stipulation.
“They congratulated me on the process, they congratulated me on what the work was, but contractually, it’s very interesting. My label will not count this album against my contract — this is as a solo artist,” André said, referencing his unconventional flute-based project.
After consulting his lawyer, André learned that the stipulation dates back to the 1970s, when some artists tried to fulfill their record deals by submitting low-effort or unconventional material. Labels countered this by requiring new works to align with the artist’s previous output.
“I didn’t understand it at first and we tried to find ways around it,” he admitted. “But my attorney explained it in this way: it was invented in the ’70s maybe, when artists were trying to get out of their deals so they were just pretty much turning in anything. It says, ‘The next recording has to be 90 percent like the recording before it.’”
He added, “It stops you from turning in 10 tracks of handclaps and saying, ‘This is my album.’ And I get it! But Sylvia [Rhone] and the team have been so supportive. They know I’m not turning in a handclap album — they get it. But as a business, this is the stance they took.”
Despite the setback, André isn’t rushing to leave Epic Records. He remains focused on creating music and has confirmed that he’s already working on another album. While keeping details under wraps, he shared that the new project is well underway.
“Oh, for sure,” he said when asked about a follow-up to New Blue Sun. “At this point, I’m just trying to keep the momentum. There’s such a thing as creative momentum. The next stuff is very interesting, too. We’re almost a third — or halfway — into it.” However, he noted there’s no set release date. “I don’t know when it will be ready. Who knows.”
For now, fans can continue to celebrate André 3000’s latest artistic evolution while eagerly awaiting the next chapter in his legendary career.
During a recent interview, André 3000 revealed another surprising fact about the project. While chatting with Touré on his podcast, The Touré Show, André 3000 claimed that his New Blue Sun album will not be credited towards his solo record deal obligations.
“They congratulated me on the process, they congratulated me on what the work was, but contractually, it’s very interesting,” he said. “My label will not count this album against my contract — this is as a solo artist. I didn’t understand it at first, and we tried to find ways around it, but I understand it in a way, too.”
André 3000 went on to explain why his label (Epic) won’t consider it. “In the ’70s artists were trying to get out of their deals so they were just pretty much turning in anything,” he said. “And so you have to have some type of legal stipulation that stops you from doing that…It stops you from turning in 10 tracks of handclaps and saying, ‘This is my album.’ And I get it! But Sylvia and the team, they’ve been so supportive. They know I’m not turning in an a handclap back — they get it. But as a business, this is the stance that they took.”
To listen to The Touré Show‘s full episode featuring André 3000, click here.
During an interview with Variety, André 3000 shared his reaction to the nominations. “I felt that we tried to campaign to see if we could get into the alternative jazz or ambient category,” he said. “So this morning, when the album of the year category popped up, I was really, really surprised because I didn’t think that that many people even knew about it. So I’m just happy that the votes came in that way and that people were paying attention, more than anything.”
The nomination certainly shocked fans. While Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, Chappell Roan’s The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, Charli XCX’s Brat, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet, Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department were considered shoo-ins; André 3000’s New Blue Sun and Jacob Collier’s Djesse Vol. 4 are this year’s dark horses.
The 2025 Grammy Awards are scheduled to take place on February 2, 2025. Only then will viewers learn which musician takes home the coveted gramophone trophy.
Andre 3000 and his flute will compete against the biggest names in music for the coveted “Album of the Year” title at the 2025 Grammy Awards. A Grammy nomination for the legend’s solo debut, New Blue Sun, was announced on Friday (Nov. 8) at the Recording Academy’s nomination ceremony in Los Angeles. Others announced in the Album of the Year category include Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft.
The seven-time Grammy winner released his debut album in November 2023. 19 years in the making, the Jazz-driven album features no bars by arguably one of the greatest lyricist ever. Among the eight songs are “”I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time” and “The Slang Word P(*)ssy Rolls Off the Tongue with Far Better Ease Than the Proper Word Vagina. Do You Agree?” The album peaked at #34 on Billboard 200 and supported by a nationwide tour.
Andre put down the flute and returned to hip hop in October with the release of an interesting 26-minute rap song. Then, he dropped “Something is Happen” with an all-star cast on October 26. Since 2004, Andre 3000 has kept his rhymes sharp with guest appearances on music by Frank Ocean, Beyonce, Drake, and more. Andre, Benjamin Andre to be exact, and his team have not shared a statement regarding the nomination at this time.
A win would mark Andre’s second in the category after securing the Grammy in 2004 as Outkast with their double album Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below. The album included massive hits “Hey Ya,” “Roses,” and “The Way You Move.” Will Andre’s new album when a Grammy? Will the nomination provide the legend inspiration to rap again? What do you think about Big Boi rapping over Andre’s flute? Share your thoughts in the comments section below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.
“It’s kind of funny: The backlash is actually not from the rap community, or the jazz and spiritual jazz community,” he said. “There’s actually more support — surprising support — from both sides. I think it’s more [OutKast] fans, which I understand. I always try to put myself in their shoes: If my favorite rapper said, ‘I’m not rapping’ and I like it, I like it. But if I don’t, I move on. I think some people take it as blasphemy or something.”
He also explained why he didn’t just release the project under a different name to dodge the expectations that would come with a “new André 3000 album.”
“In retrospect, I’ve asked myself, ‘Would I have been better off releasing it under a new name?’” he admitted. “But I’m glad I didn’t. The ridicule that I get from it is the thing I did not expect. If I’m a fan of anybody, I’m not waiting 17 years for this great rap album to come out. I’m thinking, ‘Well, that ship has sailed.’ I felt like the name ‘André 3000’ showed the bigger story — the journey from where I was to now. I kept it so that wouldn’t get lost.”
Andre 3000 compared his music to that of Lil B during an interview with the Recording Academy published on Wednesday. After mentioning Sun Ra and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the legendary Outkast rapper explained how his latest foray into instrumental music is similar to Lil B, who he described as having a “punk way of rapping.”
“A long line of historical bands like Sun Ra, the Chicago Art Ensemble. Even rapper Lil B,” he told the outlet. “I was joking to myself: I was like, I’m almost the Lil B of this type of music. Lil B is, they call it based rap. My son actually turned me on to Lil B. Because a lot of what he’s doing is made up or improv or really reactionary. It’s not this studied, perfect thing. Because I came up in the ‘90s, we came up with Nas and Wu-Tang and some of the [people] considered the best rappers around. It was about clarity. It was more of a studied kind of thing.”
OSLO, NORWAY – AUGUST 08: Andre 3000 performs on stage at the Øyafestivalen on August 08, 2024 in Oslo, Norway. (Photo by Per Ole Hagen/Redferns)
He continued: “A person like Lil B is not studied at all. But the way the kids respond to him, it’s because of that. It’s kind of like a punk way of rapping, and I like it. [And what I’m doing is] almost like punk jazz or punk spiritual jazz. It’s pure feeling.” Andre put out his debut solo album, New Blue Sun, last year, ending his 17-year hiatus from music. In doing so, he moved away from hip-hop and into ambient jazz.
Elsewhere in his discussion with the Recording Academy, Andre spoke about performing the flute live, the evolution of his artistic expression, and more. Be on the lookout for further updates on Andre 3000 and Lil B on HotNewHipHop.
The new album just begs for an intimate listening session — and that’s exactly what his André’s companion film, Listening To The Sun, is. To star the 90-minute film, André introduces the album, lights a candle, and lets the mood move him as the album plays. “I hope you enjoy the ride as much as we did,” he says. “What you hear is what we did as it was happening.” The film, directed by Terence Nance, isn’t terribly complex, but the soundtrack takes care of that.
Although New Blue Sun was well-received in general, though, André’s comments about rapping after 40 while promoting it certainly ruffled a few feathers. Lil Wayne called André’s thoughts “depressing,” while LL Cool J shot down the idea that there are no new ideas after 40. Still, most fans seem to be holding out hope that André will rediscover his inspiration, after his most recent rap verse, on Killer Mike’s “Scientists & Engineers,” not only scratched their longstanding itch for new André 3000 wordplay, but also helped Mike sweep the Grammys’ rap categories.
You can watch André’s film, Listening To The Sun, above.
Andre 3000 has spoken out on the backlash to his explanation for not continuing to make hip-hop music as he gets older. Speaking with Crack Magazine for a new cover story, the legendary Outkast rapper discussed his controversial comments on aging in hip-hop. “I’ve heard some rappers reply to what I’ve said about age, and I have to ask, ‘What are you rapping about?’” he began.
“Some are the best braggadocious rappers in the world, and we love them for that — but it’s so much easier to do that for the rest of your life. I don’t necessarily rap like that. Our formulas are different. He doesn’t know what it takes for me to do what I do. I don’t know what it takes for him to say the same thing over and over again and still keep it creative. But I love him for doing it.”
Andre 3000 Performs During Syd For Solen In Denmark
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – AUGUST 9: Andre 3000 with the band New Blue Sun performs on stage during Syd For Solen on August 9, 2024, in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Matt Jelonek/Getty Images)
Andre originally shared the take during an interview with GQ from last year after the release of his instrumental album, New Blue Sun. “I’m 48 years old,” he said when asked why he isn’t rapping. “And not to say that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about, but in a way it does. And things that happen in my life, like, what are you talking about? ‘I got to go get a colonoscopy.’ What are you rapping about? ‘My eyesight is going bad.’”
Andre 3000 has responded to LL Cool J’s criticism of his new album after the hip-hop legend took issue with his decision to transition into making ambient instrumental music. “Listen, he is amazing. His bars are all the way up. Not the flute, B. Not the flute,” LL Cool J had said during an appearance on LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The Shop. “Let’s not lie to ourselves. I don’t wanna hear him do the flute. You wanna hear me do a violin album?” Appearing on the latest episode of the show himself, Andre defended his latest album, New Blue Sun.
“To me, I feel like if it’s in you — ’cause I got homies my age and older than me that still rap — so if it’s in you, you should rap until you die. You should perform until you die,” he said. “But what I’m saying is, what it takes for me to do it, I’m always looking for the next. I’m not trying to uphold a thing that I’ve done before. Of course, I have things to say now, but if I can’t say them in a fresh, innovative way, if I feel like I’m just hanging onto the same flow that I used to do, it’s not enough for me. So I can’t talk for another rapper about what they doing. I just say, ‘Man, go for it. If it’s in you.’”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 02: André 3000 performs at Blue Note Jazz Club on February 02, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images for ABA)
Andre dropped New Blue Sun back in November of last year after going 17 years without releasing a new project of his own. It received mixed responses from fans as Andre shifted away from hip-hop with the album. During an interview with GQ afterward, he admitted that he didn’t feel like he had anything interesting to rap about at his age.
Andre 3000 Sits Down With LeBron James, Sexyy Red, & More
Check out Andre’s latest comments on his musical direction on HotNewHipHop. Be on the lookout for further updates on Andre 3000 on HotNewHipHop.
