André 3000 Reveals Why He Is Committed To The Flute These Days Instead Of Rapping

André 3000 shocked the world last year when he released New Blue Sun, an album where he exclusively played the flute and did not rap. The 49-year-old artist recently spoke about why he is committed to this endeavor and clarified his previous statement about rapping past 40.

Ultimately, for 3K, he enjoys the challenge of learning the flute. “I don’t know what notes I’m playing, to be completely honest,” he said on a recent episode of LeBron James’ The Shop. “I’m not trying to pretend like I know what I’m doing, in a way. I actually don’t know what I’m doing and that’s part of the art.”

He also stated that, despite recently saying that he isn’t motivated to rap past 40, he is open to getting back in the booth if the inspiration does arise. “I got homies my age and older than me that still rap,” he said. “So if it’s in you, you should rap until you die… But what I’m saying is, what it takes for me to do it, I’m always looking for the next… I can’t say [things] 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.’”

André 3000 also shared a funny story about the late Pimp C with his fellow guests on The Shop. The UGK member was not happy that he changed the beat when he submitted his “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)” verse.

“Rest in peace Pimp, but I got a story about that,” he began. “Pimp was so mad at me because they sent the beat, and I wrote my verse, put my words down, and I took the beat out for me to rap. When I sent it back to them, Pimp was like, ‘Man, f**k this muthaf**a, man! This ni**a gon’ gahdamn take my beat out! Like, who the f**k he think he is?!”

According to Jeff Sledge’s 2016 interview on A Waste Of Time with ItsTheReal, Pimp took some reasoning before understanding that 3K’s acapella verse was a great setup for the beat dropping in his subsequent verse. “I was like, ‘Chad, hold up fam,’” Sledge said. “‘Let’s rock it like that because when André doing a capella and then when the beat drops, that’s when your verse drops. And then your verse is gonna lift the record up because now the beat is rockin’ and your verse is kickin’.’” Pimp C ultimately agreed and things work out for all parties as the song peaked at No. 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was UGK’s only entry on the chart as lead artists.