The two rappers who can help André 3000 make a rap album again
André 3000 is struggling to rap in general these days, so a hip-hop album from him is something of a pipe dream. So much so, he titled the first song on his 2023 flute album, ‘I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time’.
However, the Atlanta rapper feels that Drake and Kendrick Lamar could play a huge role in him recording a rap album again, if and when that day comes. “I think what would help me make a rap album is being around rappers,” he said. “When I moved to California, I wasn’t writing. I’ve talked to Kendrick [Lamar]. We talked, listened to beats. Same with Drake.”
He continued, “And as a rapper, they would be surprised to hear me say this, but at one point, I was like, ‘Man, it would be cool to just hang out with them to get the energy of rapping.’ Because when they’re doing it so constantly, something got to drip off.”
3 Stacks has gone as far as saying it feels “inauthentic” for him to rap because he doesn’t have anything to talk about anymore, citing his older age in an interview with GQ. He also told Rolling Stone that Outkast is “further away” from a new album than ever before.
3000 admitted he was impressed by Kendrick and Drizzy recording five songs in a single day when the art of rapping and producing doesn’t come naturally to him anymore. “They do four, five songs a day, and I’m like, ‘What?’” he said. “I don’t even go to the studio like that. I haven’t touched my drum machine in ages. I’m just now getting back to producing songs.”
He added, “I didn’t say it. I thought it in my head. I was like, ‘Man, it would be a good exercise just to hang around.’ That’s how songs happen sometimes. I never expressed this to them, but I was so inspired because of their output. Like, when you’re in a groove it can be infectious — as opposed to approaching it in a casual way, which, that’s where I am now.”
Speaking to Crack Magazine, 3000 admitted that the beef between Drake and Kendrick made him “sad” because of the number of people involved.
“I got a little sad, at a certain point,” he said. “In early rap battles, you had kids in the park rapping against each other. But it’s not just people rapping now. You got people with 100 employees. You have livelihoods, empires, companies, deals — all of it can be jeopardised. If you don’t have anything to lose, sure, go for it. But if I already made it, I’m not sure it’s even worth it any more.”
However, he was pleased to hear Kendrick Lamar shout him out during his verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s hit single ‘Like That’, which kickstarted the feud. “As a 49-year-old rapper, you’re just happy to get a shoutout,” he said. “But as a rapper, I’ve noticed myself walking around with this stick. So it was a line for me, too, and I was trying to find a way to use it. But Kendrick used it, so I had to say ‘Yeah, he got it.’”
3000 previously collaborated with Drake on ‘The Real Her’ from 2011’s Take Care album, as well as Chris Brown’s ‘Deuces’ remix alongside Kanye West, Rick Ross, T.I. and Fabolous in 2010.