André 3000 has cleared up some confusion around his Grammy-nominated album New BlueSun: it turns out the project does count towards his record contract after all.
The idea that New Blue Sun does not count towards fulfilling 3 Stacks’ contract with Epic Records was something the musician said during an interview with Toure that gained notice last month.
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“They congratulated me on the process, they congratulated me on what the work was, but contractually, it’s very interesting. My label will not count this album against my contract — this is as a solo artist,” he said of his polarizing flute project.
However, while the interview with Toure was re-released last month, the episode’s show notes explain that it is a “very recent interview that we are introducing as a throwback.” It was first released in November 2023.
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During a more recent conversation with Rolling Stone, André explained that while people at his label initially didn’t want to count the album as part of his obligations, they ultimately changed their minds.
“There’s a story going around that my record company is not counting New Blue Sun against my contract, and that is not true,” he told writer Andre Gee.
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“At first, they didn’t, so that was true, because of the contractual reason that it’s not 90% like [my] last album. But, after I played New Blue Sun for the label and [they] saw that it was a real project, they thankfully counted it… [T]he story that’s going around now is very old.”
Elsewhere in the RS interview, the OutKast member explained that if anyone can inspire him to make a rap album, it’s Kendrick Lamar and Drake.
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“I think what would help me make a rap album is being around rappers,” he said. “When I moved to California, I wasn’t writing. I’ve talked to Kendrick [Lamar]. We talked, listened to beats. Same with Drake.
“And as a rapper, they would be surprised to hear me say this, but at one point, I was like, ‘Man, it would be cool to just hang out with them to get the energy of rapping.’ Because when they’re doing it so constantly, something got to drip off.
They do four, five songs a day, and I’m like, ‘What?’ I don’t even go to the studio like that. I haven’t touched my drum machine in ages. I’m just now getting back to producing songs.”
3 Stacks elaborated on his comments later in the conversation, saying: “I didn’t say it. I thought it in my head. I was like, ‘Man, it would be a good exercise just to hang around.’ That’s how songs happen sometimes.
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“I never expressed this to them, but I was so inspired because of their output. Like, when you’re in a groove it can be infectious — as opposed to approaching it in a casual way, which, that’s where I am now.”
