Andre 3000 has delighted fans for decades. As one of hip-hop's true eccentrics, Three Stacks is one of the rare artists whose boundary-pushing has been met with critical acclaim and commercial success. He knows how to make experimentalism sound good. His latest endeavor, however, has really put this ability to the test. Andre recently performed a set at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, and instead of rapping or singing, he continued his woodwind odyssey and performed a clarinet solo. Fans were... unsure of how to react.
Andre 3000 performed at the festival on May 27, which also happened to be his 49th birthday. The Outkast star was backed by the same musical ensemble he worked with on his solo album, New Blue Moon. There was some light banter with the crowd, but for the most part, Stacks was focused on his clarinet playing. Outlets have posted video footage of the rapper's performance and claimed he was playing a flute, but it is, in fact, the same instrument Squidward plays on Spongebob Squarepants.
Andre 3000 Improvised Most Of His Concert Set
The footage of the performance is a little awkward. People in the audience seem unsure of how to react to Andre 3000's playing. Several of them are looking around, and the silence amidst the rapper's clarinet solo furthers the awkwardness. To be fair, Andre 3K has been on the windwood wave for a while now. He prefaced his performance by explaining that he doesn't have a musical roadmap in mind, and will simply go wherever his playing will take him. "Everything we’re doing — the same way that New Blue Sun was made with me and my brothers," he explained. "We’re completely making everything up as we go along. We never know what the night is gonna sound like."
Andre 3000 knows that fans want him to rap again, but he told Bitter Southerner that he simply doesn't have it in him anymore. He's more fascinated with improvisational, instrumental music, and he feels as though he needs to follow his muse. “The thing is, I can only give what I’m feeling," he explained to the outlet. "If there’s not any discovery, it doesn’t feel real to me. I’ve never considered myself the best producer or the best singer or the best rapper or any of those separate categories. But one thing I do have confidence in is my feeling." How can you knock that?