OutKast’s André ‘3000’ is releasing an instrumental flute album
By Marianne Garvey, CNN
(CNN) — André “3000” Benjamin is set to release his debut solo album, “New Blue Sun,” an entirely instrumental album centered around woodwinds.
Co-produced by Benjamin and multi-instrumentalist Carlos Niño, the album will feature instrument playing from Nate Mercereau, Surya Botofasina, Deantoni Parks, Diego Gaeta, Matthewdavid, V.C.R, Diego Gaeta, Jesse Peterson, and Mia Doi Todd.
According to a press release, the album is a “a celebratory piece of work in the form of a living, breathing, aural organism.”
“Over the past decade, André 3000 has lived without anchors, gently floating in a breeze. Blink and you might miss him: There he is in Japan, flashing a bright smile and a peace sign, his other hand holding a custom wooden flute,” the release states. “There he is again, this time in an airport terminal, playing a few spare notes to pass the time. Wait, is that André in SoHo with a latte? Casually walking around like he’s not who he is?”
It continues: “André isn’t BigFoot. He isn’t some mythical being living in the hills. He’s very much aware of his legend as an award-winning actor, one-half of the Grammy-winning rap duo OutKast, and master of the show-stopping guest verse.”
Benjamin called wind the “most essential element” of his new album, which features his own flute playing throughout.
“I’ve been interested in winds for a long time, so it was just a natural progression for me to go into flutes,” he said in a statement. “I just like messing with instruments and I gravitated mostly toward wind.”
“New Blue Sun” has some long-running songs with equally long-winded titles. The opening song is 12 minutes and titled, “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a Rap Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.”
The album drops November 17 via Epic Records.
The-CNN-Wire
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