More than 17 years ago, Outkast released what appears to be their final studio album, “Idlewild.” One half of the Atlanta-based group, André 3000, has kept a seemingly low profile in terms of his music career. Throughout the years, André has been featured on tracks with the likes of John Legend, Lloyd, Beyoncé, Kesha, B.o.B, Gorillaz, T.I., Anderson .Paak, and others. In 2021, he teamed up with Ye on the track “Life of the Party.” Last year, he collaborated with Killer Mike on the track “Scientists & Engineers,” which featured artists Future and Eryn Allen Kane. 

In November, André returned to social media and announced an upcoming project he’d be releasing. Fans were exhilarated to hear what the upcoming project would be. An Outkast reunion album? A long-awaited solo rap LP? Those ideas would be dismissed with the announcement of his first album, “New Blue Sun.” This would mark André’s first-ever studio album since he hopped on the music scene nearly three decades ago. Three Stacks wasted no time in stating there would be no rapping on the album. 

“It actually feels… sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap because I don’t have anything to talk about in that way. I’m 48 years old. 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.’ You can find cool ways to say it, but….” André 3000 told GQ last year. 

“It’s really not overcoming self-doubt. I think it’s a misunderstanding. People feel like, ‘Oh, he’s doubting himself so much, that’s why he’s not putting out music.’ For me, it’s always been I have to like it, period. I’ve been close to things, but not worth sharing. Once we started working on ‘New Blue,’ I felt compelled.”

André 3000

Instead, the album was an 87-minute (originally three hours long), eight-track, instrumental piece that was sonically different from what we’re used to from the Atlanta native. New-age, spiritual jazz was the direction he had gone with for the LP, largely consisting of experimental flute music. 3000 has been credited with playing digital wind instruments, contrabass flute, wood and bamboo flutes, Maya flute, and pedals on the album.

Some fans who had waited more than a decade for new music were stumped and disappointed to hear the news. After its release, it seemed that most reviewers were satisfied with the album. 

“Luckily, André 3000’s 87-minute ambient music odyssey is a gorgeous, deeply contemporary, prismatic breath of fresh incense,” Rolling Stone critic Christopher R. Weingarten wrote about the album. 

The opening track, “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time,” broke the record for the longest song to debut on the Billboard Hot 100, and “New Blue Sun” was the first instrumental album to take a spot on the Billboard Hot 200. 

Next, it was time to bring it to the big screen. André 3000’s company, A Myriad of Pyramids, and IMAX teamed up to present a one-night showing of a cinematic interpretation of “New Blue Sun.” 

“Directed by Terence Nance, witness André’s fusion of improv creativity and musical exploration in vivid detail and unparalleled sound quality through the IMAX Live Experience, blending captivating visuals and instrumentation,” the IMAX website reads. 

“André 3000: New Blue Sun IMAX Live Experience” was brought to life in 22 theaters across the United States, most of which were sold out by the time of the showing. 

For an hour and 31 minutes, viewers sat back and watched André 3000 as he displayed his creative evolution that led to this new project. Sitting in a blue room, with a candle lit on the bottom right, André introduced himself to the audience and thanked everyone for taking time out of their day to be there and watch this cinematic experience. He was quick not to waste any more time and began to take the audience on an artistic journey as each track from the LP played back to back. 

On the album each song was pure improvisation, and that’s what it felt like on the screen.  Using the environment around him as a canvas, his body movements on the surface level looked irrational, but they told a story. Utilizing improvisation, the spontaneous creation of movement, Three Stacks opened up as we watched him play, let go, and act on impulse. It took you through a range of emotions including happy, sad, angry, confused, lost, and content. The pairing of the onscreen visuals and the volume the theater produced got the viewer fully immersed in the experience, and although there were no words to be heard, you felt and were moved regardless. 

There was nothing flashy about what André presented. The sounds, movements, and facial expressions were enough to get the point across and keep the viewer intrigued in the art piece. The audience watched on, pondering what the flutist was trying to paint on the screen before them. It was a refreshing break from what we hear today in mainstream music, and invigorating to see an artist take such a different leap in their career. From beginning to end, the cinematic experience was truly new-age. From the actions on screen, to the atmosphere of the theater, everything felt serene and peaceful. Although, if you’re not a fan of new-age music, but a fan of André, the visual experience and music felt reminiscent of “Prototype,” the fifth and final single from Outkast’s fifth studio album “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” which was released 21 years ago.

After the long-form music video came to an end, the showing ended with a live-stream conversation with André and Nance, who were present in one of the theaters in New York City. Audience members from each theater were able to submit questions to be answered by the two. 

Benjamin from New York sent a question about the track “Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Your Lord & Savior J.C. / Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, And John Wayne Gacy,” and wondered what the connection was between all the people listed. 

“I was just trying to show the extremes of a balance,” André 3000 said. “I wasn’t trying to get at anybody, or do anything that would piss people off, but I want to put those names right next to each other just as a reminder that us humans, I mean, we all have like good and bad in us. Nobody’s all good, nobody’s all bad. So, it was the most extreme way I could think.” 

When asked about self-doubt when releasing this album, André 3000 shot that down. 

“It’s really not overcoming self-doubt. I think it’s a misunderstanding. People feel like, ‘Oh, he’s doubting himself so much, that’s why he’s not putting out music.’ For me, it’s always been I have to like it, period.” André 3000 said. “I’ve been close to things, but not worth sharing. Once we started working on ‘New Blue,’ I felt compelled.” 

In terms of upcoming performances and collaborations, André dropped some big news. 

“You should be on the lookout for both,” he said. “We just announced the tour that’s actually starting in New York. I think we’re starting in Brooklyn. The way we made the album, the energy that we took to make it, it’s pulled out of the air and I can’t wait to do that for people live, to see it in person. We have a whole tour coming up, and we will have special guests pop up, so stay tuned.” 

What made him want to allow people inside his world and see his creative process? 

“I felt like it was beautiful and just worth sharing. That’s simply it,” he said. 

Another viewer asked him what advice he would give to young Black creators from the South who are feeling constricted by social norms. 

“I don’t know the restrictions, I would have to know which restrictions you’re talking about. But I think we’re in the best times. We grew up and we only had one or two opportunities to make it. You only had a radio station or a record company. If they ain’t like you, you are just gone,” André 3000 said. “Now I think the youth or anybody trying to do art or music, you just have so many tentacles, you have so many ways to get out. You can do something tonight, put it out tomorrow, and just be popping. We didn’t have that opportunity, you just have way more opportunity. Like at a click of a button, you could share a thing and people will hopefully like it. Back then, even if you had a demo, you only got to the 10, 20 people you sold it to. The opportunity of technology now is almost unstoppable.” 

When ending the conservation, 3000 had one more thing to say. 

“I realized that popcorn is underrated. Movie butter popcorn in particular is underrated. So thank y’all for bringing me to that smell,” he added. 

If you missed the one-night showing, André 3000 will be on the road for the “André 3000: New Blue Sun Live” tour. Carlos Niño, Nate Mercereau, Surya Botofasina, and Deantoni Parks, who all performed on “New Blue Sun,” will join him in bringing the album to life. Don’t wait too long, as a lot of stops are already sold out.