André 3000 remains impossible to pin down

André 3000 has always been one of rap's more eccentric geniuses. 

- BHANUJ KAPPAL

Over the decade or so (1994A 2006) he ruled the charts as one half of legendary Atlanta rap duo Outkast, the rapper excelled at landing artistic sucker-punches from left-field. He treated his voice like playdough, moulding it into new pitches and tempos on the fly. He crafted rhymes that are almost architectural, complete with trap-door entendres and subterranean subtext. With every album, he adopted new personas and outfits, each more outrageous than the last. He was rap's answer to Sun Ra, a visionary who seemed to come from outer space with a radical, perspective-shifting take on black culture and musicality. So I guess it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that André's first solo release in 17 years, New Blue Sun, is a new-age instrumental album, 87 minutes of minimalist flute melodies and new age spiritual ambience, with nary a human voice on offer.

When the news first dropped, it sounded like a joke: yet another piece of masterful trolling by an artist who revels in irony and unpredictability. Just look at the wordy, self-aware song titles. The opener is called I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make A 'Rap' Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time. Another song, inspired by an ayahuasca ritual, bears the name That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn't Control... Sh¥t Was Wild. He even misspells Gandhi as Ghandi. Surely you are joking Mr. Benjamin.