C’mon, it’s 2024.
Date: Nov 17, 2023 — “Apologetically unapologetic”.
Those were the first two words I wrote while listening to Rapper André 3000’s track “I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A “Rap” Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time”, from his flute-driven New Blue Sun album.
Some of you had a very different set of words for the Brother and were quite disappointed, especially after his performance at ATL Jazz Fest this past spring:
Or after hearing recent news about his New Blue Sun film.
I have so many thoughts to unravel in the package I need to drop on y’all today, and not certain of where to start.
But I’ll start here: some of you want your musical heroes to freeze in time, never grow up, and still be into the same things you understandably can’t seem to break free from.
I dunno, perhaps you want a perennial grasp of those spring break memories.
Or your first nut.
Your first extended stay from under your parents’ roof.
The favorite song you shared with your special lover.
I have no idea; random guesses. Outkast never triggered those memories for me (laughing) but I’m trying to relate!
Some of you haven’t realized that the rapper you revere is damn-near 50 years old.
That means he’s arguably developed a new set of interests.
You can call these things creative inspos.
A relatively fresh set of life experiences, accumulated in nearly a baker’s dozen of years since his last recording.
Even if Three Stacks returned to Rap, I suspect his flow and poetic references will change.
What we know for certain is that being a flutist is an outcome from how he’s recently lived over the years.
The change is natural.
André 3000 grew up. Some of you may need to do the same.
And y’all Peter Pan fans are precisely the reason why today’s 50-year-old rappers feel as if they can’t pull their pants up while onstage.
A Logan’s Run career that views pants-down as a necessary ritual for Rap celebrity survival after a half-century on this planet. Some legends feel the need to assuage the anxious memories of aging audiences, who seem to forget they were teenagers when they bopped to “Get the F*** Up” — all respect to Brother Monch — with finger Glocks pointed to the sky.
Keep Hip Hop in your memories. Never lose them. Buy your favorite aging artists’ music. Buy their concert tickets and merch.
But you should expect your artists to change. They are entitled to do that.
Some artists grow in different ways. Consider what John Coltrane was playing in his final earthly year, compared to his work with Miles Davis years prior.
Evolution is inevitable.
Well, at least that’s what I can tell you Peter Pan fans.
To Rap purists, I want to remind you that making no room for inventive non-Rap musical styles without ridicule doesn’t make you much better off than the Wisconsin Beckys who visit NYC for the weekend and ask one of the local nightclub DJs to play a song “me and my friends can dance to” — which is code for “play something generic like Taylor Swift or Tommy Richman — and then become distraught when the privilege isn’t extended.
Although I must admit that most of you purists have better musical tastes than whatever the Beckys are walking around with …
I know of musicians who hate André 3000’s new direction.
Some argue the flute playing is too basic while others think the musical concepts are too abstract.
Frankly, the Peter Pan fans have been saying the latter as well.
I won’t spend any time discussing the virtues or warts of abstract music.
The style exists. And there’s an audience for it. Won’t be the first release. Likely not the last.
André 3000 made a point with CBS News’ Anthony Mason last year that’s worth repeating, and I’ll place it in gifs to close out my thoughts:
There seems to be a warped idea of how the creative process works.
Many people create from living — or otherwise immersing — themselves in the conditions that inspire creative energy. You’ll hear many creatives in various fields talk about “design references” or “creative inspiration”. I give André 3000 credit for understanding how his creative flow works, and choosing not to forcibly give birth to something he may not be happy with.
I give him credit for trying something new and look forward to watching his journey.
I also look forward to watching his concert at at Brooklyn Academy of Music in October …
mentalunrest.com 