Enetrgalactic emcee and singer Kid Cudi has recently spoken out urging ‘Hey Ya’ musician André 3000 to release a new hip-hop album for the culture, claiming it will “save us all.”
During a recent appearance on the Complex YouTube series ‘GOAT Talk’, the Cleveland singer and rapper (real name Scott Mescudi) told skateboard legend Tony Hawk that he is a fan of 3000 and is desperate to hear some rap music from him.
During the pair’s conversation, Hawk asked Mescudi who his favourite rapper of all time is, and the ‘Day ‘N’ Nite’ artist swiftly revealed that he has a love for André 3000.
Cudi explained his thoughts on 3000, saying, “He’s just the illest.” However, he also shared what he desperately wants to hear from the Outkast legend, unveiling, “I would really love to see a rap album from him.”
Although Cudi recognised that 3000 is currently not creatively interested in rap, he revealed that he believes a rap album from the Aquemini rhymer could save hip-hop, stating, “I know he’s in a different place [but] I know he can create something that’s just so wild and feels fresh and new. He can save us all. Save us all, Dre!”
As he continued to praise 3000 (real name André Benjamin), Cudi asserted that Outkast’s 2003 project, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, is one of the best rap albums of all time and was the “template” for his 2009 debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of Day.
Mescudi worked with Benjamin in 2016 for his album Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ and told Hawk that he is hoping that the pair can collaborate again soon, disclosing, “I’m hoping to get André in the studio again soon. Get some flute on the record and get him to spit a bar or two. André, I’ll be knocking on your door pretty soon. I’ve been watching you. I’ve been watching you close.”
Although hip-hop culture was slightly disappointed with the lack of rap on New Blue Sun, Benjamin explained during an interview with NPR that (at least for now) he is exploring other avenues and is not as attached to rhyming as he once was.
Delving into this, Benjamin told a reporter, “I love rap music because it was a part of my youth. So I would love to be out here with everybody rapping, because it’s almost like fun and being on the playground,. I would love to be out here playing with everybody, but it’s just not happening for me.”
Speaking about his entirely instrumental flute LP, Benjamin told NPR that it is representative of where he is currently at creatively, stating, “This is the realest thing that’s coming right now. Not to say that I would never do it again, but those are not the things that are coming right now. And I have to present what’s given to me at the time.”
