André 3000 has shared his thoughts on the latest wave of rappers, arguing that a lot of them “sound the same”.
The Atlanta hip-hop legend appeared on the latest episode of LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The Shop podcast alongside Sexyy Red and others. He was asked about his multi-decade-long career in music, including his recent debut jazz album ‘New Blue Sun’.
In a clip uploaded to Instagram, 3000 spoke about OutKast‘s time in the Dungeon Family – led by the late Organized Noize legend Rico Wade who died this April from heart failure – leading him to say that today’s rap stars don’t “have time to cultivate themselves”.
“If we were to come out as OutKast when we thought we were ready, we wouldn’t be around today ’cause we sounded like everybody else. We sounded like who we were listening to,” he theorised.
“Now, I don’t think artists have time to cultivate themselves so a lot of artists sound the same,” he continued. “You can quickly jump on a microphone — it’s awesome because you’re getting an immediacy, but you don’t get time to hone who you are.”
He went on to mention how trap pioneer Future and 2 Chainz needed time to get their signature sound. “Even Future came up in the Dungeon [Family],” he said. “I know Ray [Murray, one-third of Organized Noize] has recordings where Future sounds different; Future was rapping. It takes a minute. Even 2 Chainz. Like, Tity Boi was rapping.”
He concluded: “What I’m saying is, over time you develop a thing and you figure out, ‘Okay, this is most effective for me.’ And we see it and we love Future for what he does now, but I don’t know if it would’ve been as successful.”
Elsewhere in the chat, he clarified what he meant by saying it felt “inauthentic” for him to return to rapping in favour of his new jazz direction.
“If it’s in you, you should rap until you die,” he explained. “The way I do it, I’m always trying to look for the next. I’m not trying to uphold what I’ve done before. Of course, I have things to say now but if I can’t say them in a fresh innovative way, like I’m hanging on to an old flow that I used to do, it’s not enough for me.”
The comment also doubled up as a response to LL COOL J, who criticised the Atlanta star’s current retirement from rap. He added: “Let’s not lie to ourselves: I don’t wanna hear him do the flute. You wanna hear me do a violin? You might not wanna hear me do shit, but do you wanna hear me do a violin?”
Other rappers have commented on Three Stacks’ decision to not rap. This January, HJa Rule said he was “heartbroken” by the news in a TV interview.
Last December, Lil Wayne also said it was “so depressing” to find out 3000 no longer wanted to rap. While talking to Tyga, he said that’s why he doesn’t intentionally listen to new music and stays in his “little hole”.
During his acceptance speech at the 2024 Grammys, Killer Mike shared his thoughts: “For all the people out there that think you get too old to rap – bullshit. I don’t care if you’re 78 rapping about how many gals you got in the nursing home. Make sure we keep hip-hop alive.”
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