André 3000 explains why all current rappers sound the same
Outkast rapper and renowned flautist André 3000 recently appeared on LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s show, The Shop. He sat alongside other guests, such as Sexyy Red, as they touched upon various topics, including 3K’s newest album, New Blue Sun and why he André yet to release a solo rap album.
One topic that the panel spoke about at length was modern hip-hop, as they looked back at some of the genre’s most popular critiques. Many older fans resent the way that hip-hop’s sound has changed recently and look back to the music made a year ago with a nostalgic longing.
Hip-hop was adapted in the mid-2010s, partly due to the popularity of SoundCloud and also the explosive careers of artists such as Young Thug and Future. André spoke about this boom in rap and why it now seems that many new artists sound like somebody who is already widespread.
“If I 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 said, “Now, I don’t think artists have time to cultivate themselves, so a lot of artists sound the same.”
The rapper 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 […] Even Future came up in the Dungeon. I know Ray has Future recordings where Future sounds different; Future was rapping. It takes a minute. Even 2 Chainz. Like, Tity Boi was rapping.”
This critique of modern internet culture and how it influences contemporary artists’ development (or lack thereof) is not uncommon. Due to social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, it has never been easier for people to become famous. However, they have minimal opportunities to work on themselves as artists because they are thrust into the spotlight early in their careers.
Many of the best rappers today, such as Kendrick Lamar and J Cole, had to perform on small stages first to work out how they wanted to sound and what kind of style they wanted to adopt. That opportunity for development no longer exists in the age of the internet, therefore artists end up sounding the same.