JAZZ HANDS

André 3000 Dropping Debut Solo Album... of Experimental Flute Music

One track is called, “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.”

André 3000 is set to drop his debut solo album, New Blue Sun, on Friday, but instead of delivering a mix of rap, singing, and beats, he is giving fans 87 minutes of contrabass flute, Mayan flutes, bamboo flutes, and digital wind instruments, according to an NPR interview. It’s his first full-length project since his Outkast days and the 2006 release of Idlewild. But a curveball may have been expected, with the Atlanta artist releasing songs like “Look Ma No Hands” on Mother’s Day 2018, a 17-minute avant-garde jazz instrumental. Almost as an apology, one track is called, “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.” He told NPR, “It’s not like I don’t try or it’s not like I have a lot of these songs just sitting–I have songs but it’s not like rap things that I really feel happy about sharing.”