This is not about general audience satisfaction. Andre 3000 reaches beyond expectation.
It would be comical, if not for the fact that it’s history repeating itself.
Several reviewers, whether pontificating in online publications or rambling in the most basic Reddit rant, acted as though a rug was pulled from beneath their collective feet with their critiques of New Blue Sun. The level of expectation was embarrassing, following the snobbery of the very same individuals referencing the brilliance of Andre 3000. Was it wishful thinking for another pop collab, or (egad) an Outkast revisit? But heaven forbid an artist follows a different path that doesn’t kowtow to the masses.
The AMM will tuck away the soapbox (for now) and stand in agreement with NPR’s assessment of Andre 3000’s solo debut, his first release in more than 17 years. Reporter Rodney Carmichael describes it as “a stunning 87-minute mind-bender, minimalist and experimental, tribal and transcendent.” And the artist follows in the footsteps of many greats before him, from transcendence herself, Nina Simone, to MF DOOM evolving into his new identity. Writer Hanif Abdurraqib put it best in an excellent article in Bitter Southerner: It’s a passage of growth, a long lineage of Black artistry refusing to satisfactorily (or comfortably) fit into a mold cultivated by audiences. “The distance between these sonic and aesthetic leaps, throughout Black music making, sometimes comes at a cost, but is the cost so much that an artist might sacrifice their own evolution, that is the question worth asking,” says Abdurraqib. New Blue Sun is golden in its ambience, softer, more evocative because of its revelatory push against expectation.
Andre 3000 brings his New Blue Sun tour to Austin for a performance tomorrow night, Sunday Sept. 22, at ACL Live at the Moody Theater. Doors at 6:30 p.m., and special guest (and AMM fave) Sudan Archives opens the show.
