Good morning.

Today we’re listening to André 3000, an American rapper, producer, and multi-instrumentalist from Atlanta. As one half of Outkast, André created timeless hip-hop and pop songs while embracing his own idiosyncratic styles and influences, clearing the way for more outcastic expression. André got into producing and playing instruments while making The Love Below, his half of the duo’s 2003 double LP. André’s side also included a 170 BPM instrumental cover of the jazz standard “My Favorite Things.” New Blue Sun, André’s first solo LP, came out on Friday. It’s a 90-minute ambient record on which he improvises digital flute over synth pads and gentle percussion. Over the last decade he’s collected 30-40 flutes, he told NPR. Per The Guardian’s interview, André’s influences on this record include Alice Coltrane, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Laraaji, and Yusef Lateef. The name New Blue Sun is an allusion to the far-future state in which our sun dims and cools, a totally new world unrecognizable from what came before.

New Blue Sun - André 3000 (90m, no vocals)
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