I don’t like when my emotions are toyed with, especially when it comes to music.
I recall as a young music listener when Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole would constantly tease that their collaborative album is on the way, just for it to never come out.
I remember when Dr. Dre teased the release of his third studio album, Detox, for over a decade, even saying, “Yes, Detox is coming” in 2010, just for hip-hop fans to never hear about it again.
Those precious letdowns left scar tissue, especially for a naive hip-hop fan who believed everything that his favorite artists told him.
While I’ve matured since then, and learned that I shouldn’t believe everything your favorite MCs say, I hope that Killer Mike isn’t lying when he says that rap fans will finally get the long-awaited solo Andre 3000 record.
I don’t know how to feel. Part of me wants to get excited considering that 3 Stacks is one of the most creative, unique, and individualistic rappers to ever grace a mic. But something else is also telling me that I should not get my expectations too high.
During a 2019 interview with Rick Rubin on his Broken Record podcast, the Atlanta MC said that his focus is not on making music.
He later said, “My confidence is not there. I tinker a lot. I’ll just go to a piano and I’ll set my iPhone down and just record what I’m doing, moving my fingers and whatever happens, but I haven’t been motivated to do a serious project.”
If Andre 3000 still feels that way, I want to believe him.
But if a respected voice like Killer Mike is saying that one of his mentors is working on a solo record and that he and many other close associates are “flying out” to listen to it soon, I hope that Andre shares the wealth and lets the public listen to it as well.
I don’t care if it’s a three-track EP where Andre 3000 is playing the flute for 10 minutes or a 14-track album where he’s rapping his ass off, I just want new music from 3 Stacks.