Earlier today (May 9), viewers tuned into the latest episode of "The Shop," which saw LL Cool J, Lena Waithe, Teddy Swims, and Mo Gilligan as guests. At some point in the clip, the hourlong conversation turned to André 3000's solo debut LP, New Blue Sun, which was completely devoid of Hip Hop. Instead, the eight-song effort was full of ambient, jazzy vibes, all led by André's use of wind instruments.
Regarding the release, LL made his disappointment pretty clear. “Look, the comments are gonna be crazy. He's amazing, alright? His bars is all the way up. I'm very clear. Not the flute, B. Not the flute. Don't do the flute," the Queens legend stated. "Let's not lie to ourselves; I don't wanna hear him do the flute. You wanna hear me do a violin? You might not wanna hear me do s**t, but, do you wanna hear me do a violin, though?"
Despite Waithe's defense of the "calming" body of work, LL doubled down by expressing his wishes for a proper Hip Hop release from André -- whether it be by himself or with his longtime collaborator. "I want him to get with Big Boi. I want them to make an Outkast [album] -- or do a solo album," he added. "Every time he does f**king one verse, it's, you know, enough material for an album. He's so gifted. So it's like, come on, B, like, not the flute. We not gonna lie like this. Don't gas. That man needs to know the truth. He needs to know the truth."
Fortunately for LL, there may be hope. As REVOLT previously reported, André admitted that he would "love to make a rap album," a surprise change of heart from other interviews conducted during his New Blue Sun promotional campaign. "I just think it’d be an awesome challenge to do a fire-a** album at 48 years old," the Atlanta veteran stated to Highsnobiety. "That’s probably one of the hardest things to do! I would love to do that."