ANDRÉ 3000 'I'D RATHER GO AMATEUR INTERESTING THAN MASTER BORING

West Los Angeles' Gjusta Bakery is bustling on a sunny Friday afternoon. Sevenfoot-high stacks of flour bags lay near the entrance, soon to be turned into pastries. The main room is full of locals seeking an early-afternoon pick-me-up, but the backyard is quieter, with rustic tables and large plants under a makeshift roof made of golden tarp. André 3000 walks in unassumingly, dapping me and joking that our shared first name is a great one. I agree as we sit and get acquainted over matcha lattes. Dressed in a camouflage jacket, pants in a different camo pattern, and his trademark red beanie, André mentions that he's been under the weather after traveling home from Japan, where he and his bandmates recently played six improvised instrumental shows at Blue Note Tokyo.

- ANDRE GEE

"Have you been to Japan yet?" he asks. When I tell him I haven't, he grows enthusiastic: "Japan is going to blow your fucking mind. I'm considering moving to Japan. Whatever you're doing, it makes you want to do it 10 times better. They do so much at a high level."

His 2023 release, New Blue Sun, is up for an Album of the Year Grammy, which, he says, is a pleasant surprise for a fluting journey that began as leisure during his long walks. André, 49, was spotted playing the flute as early as 2019 in Philadelphia, and his globe-trotting woodwind exploits have gone viral many times since then. The album, he says, came about just as casually: Producer and percussionist Carlos Niño ran into André not far from where we're sitting and invited him to an Alice Coltrane tribute concert. Over time, André, Niño, and musicians including Nate Mercereau, Surya Botofasina, and Deantoni Parks began jamming together.

Leaning back in his chair and talking calmly with his hands gently clasped, he's resolute that New Blue Sun isn't a "flute album" - he's a flutist collaborating with other instrumentalists. But he also happens to be one of the most revered rappers ever as one half of OutKast, which colors fan response to his new project. Hip-hop heads have long clamored for him and Big Boi to release a follow-up to OutKast's last album, 2006's Idlewild, and/or for André 3000 to drop a solo rap album. He's done neither, and recently riled many by saying that it feels "inauthentic" for him to rap these days. While he's since clarified that he is open to eventually making a solo rap album, that's not how he's currently expressing himself.