The Healing Power of an 87 Minute Flute Album, That the World Didn’t Know It Needed
New Blue Sun Review
The unpredictable artist formally known as Andre 3000, half of the Rap Duo Outkast, who created the Best Selling Rap Album of All Time, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, needs no introduction. Even so, I never imagined, especially in the urban music sector would be gifted with a Flute Album from one of our favorite Rappers. More importantly, a Rapper who hasn't dropped an album in 17 years, and who happens to be one of the greatest lyricists of our generation.
His thought process expressed in lyrical form and intelligent bars are deeply missed, but what Andre 3000 has instead decided to gift the world with is an instrumental album including 8 tracks where he is exclusively playing the flute ( and not rapping). The album is entitled New Blue Sun, and the album cover art pictures the artist holding an indigenous double barrel flute.
The song titles are as unpredictable and unexpected, as the rapper's style and wordplay have historically been. ‘I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A “Rap” Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time’ is the title of Track number one. Track number two is titled, ‘“The Slang Word P(*)ssy Rolls Off The Tongue With Far Better Ease Than The Proper Word Vagina. Do You Agree?’
Beginning with the album cover and song titles, there is no shortage of creativity. Other notable names mentioned in the song titles include Beyoncé, Gandhi, and Your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Respectfully.
When it was first announced, there was public concern that an instrumental album by one of our favorite artists would somehow deprive us of the opportunity to receive quality music. On the contrary, next to the Violin, the Flute is one of the most difficult instruments to play and master. Before performing key fingerings to play the various notes, the embouchure and air velocity must be perfected to produce the chords. This is very different from other instruments that can be tuned and is totally dependent on the placement of your mouth opening (aperture) on the lip plate and your breathing speed/pattern through the embouchure hole to produce sound.
Although this instrumental album was a surprise to many fans, Andre 3000 has been seen/recorded playing the flute publicly at various locations including the airport, coffee shops, and open mics since 2019. Of note, he plays a double barrel flute, in which the melody is played on one side and root notes on the other, and it sounds like 2 flutes playing together. This instrument is even more challenging than a single-barrel (traditional) flute. Another nod, to his superior level of technique and craftsmanship, as an artist. Most artists never develop far enough to achieve this level of artistic innovation. This is a privilege granted to artists who have earned sufficient income, awards, and recognition to have complete freedom of expression, unfettered by income or recognition.
According to Complex Music and NPR, Tyler, The Creator, and Frank Ocean listened to the album prior to its release. After listening, Tyler states ‘It sounds like you're chasing a butterfly through a garden, and I figured it out. It helped me to figure out how to do this.’
Each track sounds like an Insight Timer meditation track, mixed with a nature sounds playlist, on stimulants. In many ways, these tracks resemble the background music for the best sound bathing experience of your life or a holotropic awakening. The timing of this instrumental album, also couldn’t be more perfect. We are witnessing multiple genocides and humanitarian crises globally, with no end in sight. Faith in humanity is becoming increasingly frail. There is an overwhelming energy of frustration in elected officials, as we witness them treat human life as a valueless entity. As a result, our nervous systems are overstimulated, so music that soothes the nervous system is in high demand. Peace is what we need, Andre 3000 gave us that in sonic form. 87 minutes of peace, hope, and faith restored. Even if this false sense of calm ends when the last flute note fades in the eighty-eighth minute, this unexpected masterpiece remains much needed and appreciated.
At the very least, this album is the ultimate conversion piece and a unique display of artistic expression and musicianship. This is also an unintentional flex because many rappers do not play physical instruments let alone master them, which means in addition to historically outrapping his colleagues he is now outplaying them (on an ancestral woodwind instrument) as well.
In the 50th year Anniversary of Hip Hop, there is frequent conversation around the stagnant state of Hip Hop and the possibility of it losing its relevance among other genres and the album sales subsequently reflecting that. Although I disagree that Hip Hop is losing any level of relevance, I do believe it needs a refresher and that the lyrical content has become overwhelmingly redundant and lacking inspiration. And it is possible after listening to this project, that the inspiration may come in the 4th quarter of 2023 in a much-needed instrumental album from Andre 3000.
Easy Listening, The Urban Music Enthusiast