On Wednesday (Sept. 25), Grammy.com published an interview with André 3000, who spoke candidly about his performance style, being back in the public eye, and much more. At one point, he was asked who he considers to be his peers when it comes to his current musical approach – one that took him away from Hip Hop and into new age, ambient jazz territory via his solo debut LP, New Blue Sun.
“A long line of historical bands like Sun Ra, the Chicago Art Ensemble. Even rapper Lil B,” he stated. “I was joking to myself: I was like, ‘I'm almost the Lil B of this type of music’... They call it based rap. My son actually turned me on to Lil B.”
When asked to expound further on his self-comparison to the Bay Area artist, André continued, “Because a lot of what he's doing is made up, or improv, or really reactionary. It's not this studied, perfect thing... A person like Lil B is not studied at all. But the way the kids respond to him, it's because of that. It's kind of like a punk way of rapping, and I like it.”
Naturally, the topic of whether or not the Outkast legend still writes rhymes came up later in the interview. “I think it's just in me. But it's not an obsessive thing where if I see a brick, I have to rhyme 'brick' with something,” he explained. “It's more of there's a thought that's important to me. Then, if there's a next line that rhymes, I go there and I'll write it down. But I'm not obsessive, where I'm trying to find every word that rhymes with ‘brick.’ It's not an exercise for me. It's just a means to an end.” As far as what fans can expect in the future, André made it clear that "it's too early" for him to confirm anything concrete.