Words by Fatima Barrie
In a candid interview with Will Welch for GQ Style, Andre Benjamin, aka Andre 3000, opens up about his life after his classic Outkast hit “Hey Ya.” The Atlanta rapper discusses a multitude of topics including coping with the deaths of his parents, social anxiety, and his stance on fellow OutKast member Big Boi, being the better rapper of the two.
When asked about the music he’s worked on since The Love Below, he reveals that he has an endless amount of music stashed away on hard drives.
“When I pass away, people will find hours and hours of files.”
While on the topic of releasing more music, 3 Stacks shares his contentment with his musical catalog, but with one possible regret.
But if I were to drop dead right now, honestly, we’ve done it. And that’s the truth. You know what I mean? Here’s the only thing that I would regret: Man, you know, there is still that album that you wanted to do. Like, I wanted to put out my own project. Things I’ve been working on. But that’s for my personal [satisfaction], you know?
3000’s hesitation towards dropping more music seems to stem from his hate for going to the studio and his belief of not fitting the bill of today’s wave and direction of Hip-Hop. He describes not having the “pulse.”
Actually, I hate going to the studio. So what’s got me going once again is me being excited about other artists. I’ve been working on producing a few artists. A couple projects. But here’s the crazy thing: I don’t have the pulse anymore. Rhythms change every generation. The intensity and the drums change. And I’m not on the pulse.
He continues on stating,
For me, Hip-Hop is about freshness. You can always hop, but you won’t always be hip. At a certain point, you just won’t.
Despite his thoughts on his placement as a solo artist in the current state of hip-hop, Andre 3000 may not be quite finished yet. He compares the end of his iconic rap career to a Mayweather fight, insinuating possibly having a couple more fights up his sleeve, “I think I have, like, maybe two more Mayweather fights. Or maybe one.”
