The ayahuasca trip that changed André 3000’s life: “I actually turned into a panther”
André 3000 is one of the most elusive figures in hip-hop. Despite being part of one of the most influential duos of all time, the Atlanta rapper has become somewhat of an enigma in recent years, often spotted playing the flute on his own in random locations. This eventually led to his debut solo album, New Blue Sun, released in 2023, being entirely instrumental.
One song on the project, ‘That Night in Hawaii When I Turned into a Panther and Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control … Sh¥t Was Wild’, is true to its name. The incident was the result of taking ayahuasca, a plant-based psychedelic drug.
“I was actually in Hawaii and it was my second night of the first time I’d ever taken ayahuasca,” he told NPR. “We did it like a three-night kind of phase. The first night was inviting and beautiful and the most powerful love and connection with all things I’ve ever felt in my life.
“The second night was different and everybody knows that aya will do you that way. The second night my stomach was hurting, my mouth contorted like a panther and I actually turned into a panther. And I was doing like, ‘GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR’ — like, that kind of thing.”
A sound akin to an animal was coming out of André 3000, and the song he made is his attempt to recreate that moment. He didn’t have his phone then, so it was the best he could do.
“I actually turned into a panther. It was doing this thing called toning,” he said. “Toning is another way of purging. And toning is where you make these vibrational noises that you can’t control. It started playing me like an instrument. I started as a panther and then it would make me do these long kind of tones and started changing the notes.
“So, on the album I’m mimicking [it], but the funny thing in the aya session, I was like, ‘Damn, I wish I had my phone so I can record this, ’cause, like, it’d be so dope.’ I’m witnessing it and I’m watching it and it holds you for so long. I’m like, ‘Where’s this breath coming from?’ And then you end off, and you go and do it again. And I’m like, ‘Whoa, what is happening right now?’ So that’s what I’m talking about in that title.”
André 3000 admitted he was in a “very, very low place” at the time he took ayahuasca and credited the drug with changing his perspective. “It was kind of intriguing at the time because, the sound listener in me, I’m digging the sound,” he explained. “But at the same time, the shaman is coming over and he’s fanning me. And he’s saying, ‘Oh, that’s like 20 years of therapy happening right now.'”
He added, “I guess I had to get through that moment. But yeah, it was just interesting because my mouth actually shaped like a panther. Most aya sessions last about six hours. But it don’t feel like six hours. It feels like maybe two or three. I was a changed person when I left Hawaii.”