 Scarface | Birdman  |
Nothing is wrong with rap at all…you got to love rap because the only thing rap has ever said to people is, ‘we gon’ tell how it is.’.
Andre 3000 has publicly said he’s bored with rap, but this much is certain: Whenever OutKast’s outlandish other half pops up on a song, Andre Benjamin, 35, leaves rappers, clubs, and the Internet in a tizzy. Andre has always rapped (and sang) about women, but he’s really a “conscious rapper”—although he’d never refer to himself as such. He’s also the rare artist who knows what it feels like to go diamond. Jay-Z has called him a genius. Even Lil Wayne rapped that you “gotta stand out like Andre 3K,” on his Tha Carter III (Cash Money/Universal, 2008).
In 1995, the same year tensions brewed between the East Coast and West Coast, Andre 3000 stood behind a podium at The Source Awards in New York City and made a prophetic statement: “The Souf got something to say!” And like a prophet, he’s been rapping ever since.
VIBE: What are you listening to right now?
Andre 3000: That’s kind of hard, because ain’t nobody rapping no more—everybody singing. I’m just going to be honest with you: I listen to old music. I don’t even listen to rap that much, and not in a Kanye–I don’t listen to rap no more–kind of way, but I listen to what I’m working on and old, old rap. Like, I might listen to some Tribe Called Quest, I might listen to some N.W.A, Souls of Mischief, Too $hort.
Do you listen to Jay-Z?
Yeah, I hear stuff, like…I don’t have him in my iPod, but I think he’s dope though.
You don’t have Jay-Z in your iPod?
Nah, not really.
[Laughs]
No, you know what! I do have the American Gangster thing because I wanted to check it out. See how he themed it out.
What did you think about it?
Um…I thought it was all right [laughs].
Do you listen to Lil Wayne?
Yeah, I like Lil Wayne! I think he’s tough.
What’s the best thing about your job?
The best thing about my job is I get to say what I want to say. And I hope a lot of times I get to say what other people can’t say and say it for them. And it’s funny that everybody is saying, “I’m a rock star…rock star this.” I feel like a rock star is just somebody that would sacrifice for the people. If you call yourself a rock star it’s just kind of…I don’t know about that too tough [laughs]. Because really, a rock star is a sacrifice, because you have to sacrifice yourself and you have to put yourself out there for the people because you do it for the people who can’t.
Are you concerned about the future of your career?
Yup. Always.
Why?
Because the times are changing. You can’t run from time, no matter what you think. Some of the greatest people in the world, whom I love, time caught up with them. No matter how great they are, time catches up with you. And you have kids that grew up listening to you, that have learned and studied what you do, and perfected it, and took it to other levels—that’s what we’re here for.
I was influenced by somebody and, hopefully, I influenced somebody else. And then somebody get influenced by them—it’s steps. You almost got to make a way for what’s to come.
Do you ever listen to your own songs?
When I’m working on [them]. And when I’m writing video treatments. That’s the only time I listen to [them].
What’s wrong with rap right now?
Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing is wrong with rap at all. And the reason why I say that is because at any given time, you got to love rap because the only thing rap has ever said to people is “we gon’ tell how it is.” That’s the only thing that they’ve ever said. They didn’t say, “We gon’ sell a million records.” They didn’t say, “We gon’ get these endorsement deals”— none of that. Rap was always “I’m just gon’ tell it like it is.”
And as long as kids tell them how it is, no matter what some talk show host gon’ say, whatever some older cat gon’ tell you…Ya’ll need to stop cussing, stop saying nigga…uh-uh. If you want to change rap, change the environment that it come from. Because niggas, they just don’t come out the sky with that shit. So my message to all the kids doing it is do it [now] because this is the only chance you’re going to get to do it…because you going to start getting older and you going to start editing yourself. So now you can tell it like it is. And that’s what’s rock ’n’ roll is all about. Rap and rock ’n’ roll is hand in hand because you get to say what you feel and you get to express it at that time.
Press play to listen to "She Lives In My Lap" by Andre 3000, from the album Speakerboxx/The Love Below (La Face/2003)
Press play to watch the video for OutKasts' "Hey Ya!" featuring Andre 3000 from Speakerboxx/The Love Below
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