Andre 3000 is back with a new song, and it's more from the ambient, spiritual jazz journey that he's been on artistically in recent years. It's titled "Something Is Happening And I May Not Fully Understand But I’m Happy To Stand For The Understanding," it's an enveloping and engrossing 26-minute behemoth, and it finally features his vocals... Kind of. If you were hoping for a fresh new 3 Stacks verse in 2024, we're sorry to say that your wishes were not granted this time around. Instead, at around the 22-minute mark of the song, his reversed jazz scats come in. At least it's nice to hear the Atlanta native speak on wax for the first time since "SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS," albeit via warped gibberish.
Nevertheless, none of this changes how compelling and hypnotizing "Something Is Happening" is throughout its runtime if you appreciate this kind of music. For those unaware, André 3000's latest song is part of the TRANSA compilation project by Red Hot Org, a 46-track odyssey about transgender awareness. It will release in full on November 22 and features other artists like Sade, Sam Smith, and Julien Baker. As for this track from the "punk jazz" artist, it sounds quite distinct from New Blue Sun despite some overlapping similarities.
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Andre 3000's "Something Is Happening And I May Not Fully Understand But I’m Happy To Stand For The Understanding": Listen
"It’s kind of funny," André 3000 previously said of the backlash to his lack of rapping per UPROXX. "The backlash is actually not from the rap community, or the jazz and spiritual jazz community. There’s actually more support, surprising support, from both sides. I think it’s more [OutKast] fans, which I understand. I always try to put myself in their shoes. If my favorite rapper said, ‘I’m not rapping’ and I like it, I like it. But if I don’t, I move on. I think some people take it as blasphemy or something."
Meanwhile, André 3000 fans must resort to their imagination if they want new hip-hop verses from him. He recently revealed that he wrote several diss tracks that never came out, which is a holy grail considering that he's never been in a beef. Regardless, maybe next time the vocals will be played normally instead of in reverse, but we're not counting on them to spit a hot 16 anytime soon.