It seems like forever since André 3000 dropped new music, and his fans are eagerly awaiting his return. We all received a little surprise late last year when the Atlanta rapper appeared on Erykah Badu’s “Hello” single, but that was just a tease.
In an interview with Billboard, André discussed just how the guest appearance happened, and it has a lot to do with his and Badu’s son, Seven.
“Our son Seven and I were trying to figure out songs that could help her—songs that were related to the subject of the mixtape: phones. We came across [the Isley Brothers’ 1974 cover of Todd Rundgren’s] ‘Hello, It’s Me.’ Ron Isley repeats the phrase “Hello, hello” as if he was answering the phone. I told Erykah, ‘You should make this into a new song and get somebody to rap on it.’ She was like, ‘Well, you should rap on it!’ I’m happy it happened. It was a great reunion, because I don’t think people have heard a song from us in ages,” the rapper said.
But now that he’s appeared on her single, what about new music? And yes, possibly. Maybe. There could be.
“I’ve been holding [back] for a long time, so now I’m really interested in figuring out some type of music to do. I’m always recording,” André said.
Although he wouldn’t give any hints about any specific music projects he’s working on, he did say he’d like to put out one.
In the meantime, André has been honing his acting skills.
You can catch him on ABC’s American Crime, which premiered Thursday night. André plays a straitlaced father of a high school basketball player, and he’s married to Regina King’s character.
André remarked on how different the role is for him, especially since it’s far from his reality.
“It was fun because it was like an exercise in being able to be outside of myself. I’ve never been married. Of course, I have an 18-year-old kid now, so there were parallels, like the issues of being in a black family or a black person having a black kid in a private school. In real life, I always feel like an oddball going to my kid’s school because I’m a musician; I’m not the normal dad. So to be able to play one is fun to me,” André said.
From music to acting, André seems to want to leave his mark on all aspects of entertainment. But please, give us new music!