It’s been a minute since Andre 3000’s name has made headlines, but in our recent interview with Big Boi, he recalled his fondest memories of his Outkast partner and news also surfaced that the duo once nearly made an album with A Tribe Called Quest. That project never saw the light of day and unfortunately, according to a new interview with Complex, a new Outkast LP may never happen either.
Andre 3000, now 42, told the publication that he considers rapping a pasttime—one that he doesn’t want to be doing in his 50s—and that he’d be at peace if Outkast never made another album together.
“It’s really just an excitement thing, and where I am in life. I kind of like not being a part of [rap], now that I’ve done it. As I get older, I start to see myself move more back from it—the hustle and bustle of putting out an album, the pressure of being in the studio trying to come up with something. Now it’s more like a hobby for me, so I don’t think about it in that way. Even with Outkast — if we never do another album, I’m totally fine with that. When I was 25, I said I don’t want to be a 30-year-old rapper. I’m 42 now, and I feel more and more that way. Do I really want to be 50 years old up there doing that? When I watch other rappers that are my age I commend them, but I just wonder where the inspiration is coming from. At this stage, I’m really more focused on what I am going to be doing 10 years from now. And I hope to God it won’t be rapping.”
He added that he believes age can affect skill and that he’d rather pass the torch to the new generation.
“Rapping is like being a boxer. No matter how great you are or were at a certain time, the older you get, the slower you get—I don’t care who you are. And I can feel that coming on. There’s always a new wave of artists, and sometimes I’m just like, ‘I’m good. I’ll let the young guys do it.’ And whenever they reach out and say, ‘Hey, let’s try something,’ I’m with helping them. I’m doing it more for them than for my own self. I don’t get much happiness from doing music like that—I get happiness from pleasing who I’m working with, and helping them, and seeing them be excited.”
Finally, he weighed in on his and Big Boi’s no-pressure work relationship.
“We have such an understanding that it’s never friction. There’s never pressure of, ‘Hey, man, let’s get back in.’ Of course there’s always money on the table, but it’s never seen that way. We’ve been blessed to not have to scratch for that money. Maybe it’ll be an issue in the future, but maybe not.”
But still admits that he works better in collaborative circumstances.
“I work better with other people. I clearly see that now. Like, I haven’t put out an album in years, but if Frank Ocean or Travis Scott calls and says, ‘Hey, man, I want you to be a part of this,’ it’s like I have a goal, a target. When I’m on my own, I’m sitting around twiddling my thumbs, like, ‘Ah, I’ll do it tomorrow.’ It’s different. There’s a kind of certain magic when you work with other people.”
Instead, Three Stacks is designing shoes with Tretorn.