It’s been 13 years since Andre 3000's last studio album—long enough that many casual and devout fans of the rapper had squared up with the reality that Andre may never do one again. In fact, Mr. Three Stacks has seemed perfectly content acting, making Anita Hill merch, and occasionally hopping on a track to remind us why he’s consistently on everyone’s top five GOAT lists.
Well, if one little fly on Dr. Dre’s studio wall is to be believed, Andre 3000 may very well be cooking up something new.
The fly in question is Los Angeles rapper Thurz, who recently appeared on Real 92.3 LA’s Home Grown Radio show (h/t Okayplayer). Asked by co-host DJ HED if he was ever starstruck by someone while working in the studio with Dr. Dre, Thurz named Andre 3000.
To which the natural response is—and was—skuuuuuurt. Andre 3000 is in the studio?
“He got an album,” Thurz told DJ HED, before realizing that—if true—he may have just leaked a project.
“He played a lot of ideas that sounded like an album to me so I’m jumping to conclusions,” the rapper clarified.
Ah yes, conclusions! My favorite thing to jump to! No longer do we need to satisfy ourselves with Andre Benjamin’s flute-playing escapades along the eastern seaboard. We have album rumors to embrace!
Neither Andre 3000 nor Dr. Dre have said anything about a possible project. And as Hip Hop Wired notes, Andre 3000 has a full schedule at the moment: he’s currently working on the AMC series Dispatches From Elsewhere in Philadelphia.
The last Andre 3000 solo music to drop was a two-song EP titled, Look Ma No Hands, which the rapper released on his SoundCloud on Mother’s Day.