André 3000 explains why listening to old OutKast songs gave him an 'out-of-body experience'
By Daryl Nelson
Through various interviews, André 3000 made it clear that he has no desire to rap anymore or be in his legendary group OutKast.
Based on his words, the 49-year-old believes that he's too old to rap and has gotten a lot of pushback from his fellow artists and fans as a result. Eventually, André began playing the flute and released an all-flute album last year called New Blue Sun.
At this point, some may wonder if he even listens to OutKast songs anymore. Well, the answer to the question is yes, but it's not clear how often. Either way, André said he once played some OutKast tunes, and they sent him on a mental journey of sorts.
"Recently, a friend of mine sent me a video of an interview that I was doing, and I was talking about a certain song that I hadn’t heard in a long time,” he told Grammy.com. "So, I went back to listen to that song, and that sent me down the rabbit hole of all my guest verses and OutKast stuff. So, one day I was in my hotel room listening to all this stuff for hours, five hours of albums and guest stuff."
But if one thought going down memory lane would inspire André to write rhymes again, forget about it. If anything, it did the opposite because it reminded him of how different he is from his OutKast days.
"It was surprising because you’re listening as a fan and not remembering where you were at the time when you did them," he explained. "It’s almost like you’re having an out-of-body experience listening to yourself. Then you realize how much time has gone by and how different of a person you are, which is even crazier."
"It’s almost like you’re having an out-of-body experience listening to yourself."
- André 3000
Again, André has expressed many times that he's moved on from rapping and OutKast. One of the first signs of that was in 2014 when the group had a reunion show at Coachella. It was clear that André wasn't very into it, which he talked about in an interview with The Fader that year.
"I felt weird about going out on stage and doing it again,” André admitted. “I felt like people would be like, 'Y’all are doing all these festivals, y’all are just doing it for money.' And I felt like a sell-out, honestly."