When an established artist does the unexpected, I am somewhere between curious and inspired. When it’s André 3000 eschewing raps for wind instruments, it’s a revelation. As one half of ATLiens OutKast, whose bombastic and kaleidoscopic albums went platinum many times over, he developed a reputation as one of the most ingenious lyricists in hip-hop.

Over the past few years, aside from show-stealing appearances on other people’s projects, he has cut a very different figure. The eternal wanderer walking the earth, content in his own solitude, occasionally re-emerging, usually dressed in dungarees and a beanie, to play a little flute in public. In a Starbucks, at the airport, in Philly, on a ferry … wherever. At this point, “Everyone has a Three Stacks story”, quipped Complex in 2019.

Part of me felt that this was misconstrued as a frivolous phase, going off the rails, an eccentric publicity stunt even. He’s just trying something new, right? Let the man live. But who thought we would see the arrival of his first solo album, New Blue Sun, with “Warning! No raps” emblazoned on the front? How many fans looked at the garrulous tracklist and thought, this has got to be a joke, right?

After listening to two of his latest interviews, I can report it’s very much happening. More than that, it’s been his calling for a while. In conversation with Rodney Carmichael for NPR, André appeared at ease in this latest incarnation, describing it nonchalantly as moving just “a little further down the road”. All it took was around five minutes to grasp his appreciation of this particular art form and the opportunity it presents for someone in his position.

Reflecting on Coltrane, his first forays on saxophone on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and the essence of instrumental music, he said: “I’ve always been inspired by people that can express themselves without words. I’ve always been interested in that kind of approach.”

Some of his early woodwind recordings have already been released, while others are buried in the mix, uncredited, on albums by artists you might know. There’s an essence of André in scenes from Everything Everywhere All at Once and Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up (in which he also appears). He’s been working on his craft, you see.

After switching from New York to California, he fell in with musical director/medium Carlos Nino who helped André find his sound. Which is what? Here’s a playlist of inspirations. Coltrane aside, he’s namechecked Eric Dolphy (my first thought), Pharoah Sanders, Steve Reich and Philip Glass. So expect ambiance, improvisation, minimalism and electronic textures. But no Ron Burgundy. (Scroll down for my first reaction.)

He makes a funny admission at one point. As a kid, André used to think jazz was “old people’s music” or “elevator music”, to which many of us can relate. But it didn’t take long to realise that these trailblazers of the 50s and 60s were the hip-hop artists of their day. Innovators of form. Purveyors of rebel music. The ultimate. Perhaps it was inevitable that Andre the writer would try to express himself in a similar language.

The recording sessions were spontaneous and open-ended – predominantly André on flutes, Nino on percussion and sonic ‘seasoning’, Surya Botofasina on keyboards and Nate Mercereau on guitar all “responding in the moment” to each other. In the interview – as I’m sure will be the case on record – you can hear how liberating it is for him to be working in this way. To literally breathe life into new music. In the GQ video piece, he tells Zach Baron, “You can hear me figuring things out. I’m actually listening to myself be a baby at something.”

What makes this pursuit even more freeing for André is that he’s never considered himself a freestyle MC. He “constructs and architects” his verses, as he puts it. So to be making up melodies on the spot and forming the music in the moment, so alive to what’s around him, must be invigorating. As transcendent as music-making can get.

To play instead of rap also gives him a sense of timelessness through elusiveness. “I know from watching my heroes grow older that your rhythm ages you in a certain way and your vocals age you in a certain way,” he explained to Carmichael. “So I was always trying to figure out a way that I can continue. You can continue rapping for the rest of your life till you're 90 years old, but I've always tried to find a way that was ageless. And when you're listening to a player, a lot of times you may not know their age. I kind of love that in a way. Not that there's anything wrong with age.”

Did you know he’s been riding in cabs as he plays his instrument and strikes up conversations with the drivers? Before long, he is getting schooled on flutes from different cultures like the bansuri, which originates from India and Nepal. This is a recurring theme. Andre is a man of the people who is happy to be among those people, learning and exchanging, as long as it’s on his own terms. He’s talked about his social anxiety and fame’s capacity to dehumanise you. How it’s an unnatural state for one person to have all that attention and admiration. It constrains how you move.

This particular swerve from the mic will disappoint, perhaps anger, die-hard rap fans who have been clamouring for a full-length 3000 record for more than a decade. It’s not like he hasn’t tried to pen verses. The truth is, “None of that excited me,” he tells Baron. “I don't have anything to talk about. I’d rather write a book at this point.” In other words, rap is not the right medium at this moment in time. And that’s ok.

Instead, we have this offering that might just surprise a few of us with our capacity to see André Benjamin in a different light. Although he is aware of his status in hip-hop, and his place in the lineage of MCs, which carries a particular responsibility, Andre knows his first responsibility is to his art.

You may prefer a rap album. You may dislike New Blue Sun. but let’s not ridicule or trivialise the cause. Anyone who attempts to speak what they feel in their own way gets my respect. Very few artists are allowed to evolve in a radical way, particularly MCs. Miles Davis, David Bowie, Prince, even Herbie Hancock. They all took criticism, lost fans, but their will to change was all that mattered. Onwards. Many of the skeptics caught up later.

André aspires to be a “catalyst artist” in a wider sense. Someone whose sphere of influence transcends more than genre. That may already be happening because this record is out there. Think about it. How many of us let the thoughts of others dictate what we do? That’s like shrinking our own existence or stunting our growth. To see someone defy expectations like this on the road to self-discovery is a reminder to stay true to ourselves. To ignore the guard rails and, as Andre says, ride the roller coaster with our hands up. I hope others follow.

Let’s see what ripples it causes in the universe.

First thoughts ON new blue sun

In the spirit of this new chapter, I will also do something different. I rarely listen to an album once and share my opinion. So let’s not call this a review. It’s more like first impressions or a prevailing feeling after sitting through all 80-something minutes with no skips.

The first thing to say is that I don’t have a favourite track. It’s not that kind of record. Absorb it as one. New Blue Sun has a shimmering and radiant quality that encourages deeper and more patient listening. It rewards you for making that effort. In fact, if you charge through as much music as I do, this album is good for your health.

There is a gentle interplay between André and the others. Their sounds coalesce with one another and wash over you especially during ‘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’. His recollection or reenactment of the night an ayahuasca ritual played him like a vibrating instrument.

Elsewhere, a voice (Mia Doi Todd, I think) echoes through the air on ‘Ghandi, Dalai Lama, Your Lord & Savior J.C. / Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, And John Wayne Gacy’ as Andre spirals around it with a plaintive motif. The way percussion pierces the tension in certain moments and builds it in others alongside the wash of synth will have you tingling head to toe.

At no point in New Blue Sun am I wondering about André’s proficiency on his instruments. In fact, he rarely draws attention to himself. He levitates over proceedings. His notes are like murmurations, mainly neat and graceful as they circulate. He engages as if it were conversation, either building on what others say or offering a new direction to go in.

He is at his most articulate on the opener ‘I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A "Rap" Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time’. The title implies this is both an apology and an epiphany. You can hear that in this melody, which resounds like a clarion call, before deviating and disintegrating into a discordant rush.

I prefer the less cluttered interplay. There are passages in ‘BuyPoloDisorder's Daughter Wears A 3000® Button Down Embroidered’ where the sounds become a little too jumbled. That might just be one of those moments where everyone’s letting go and cacophony is the truest representation of that moment.

He isn’t just playing acoustic instruments. On "‘The Slang Word P(*)ssy Rolls Off The Tongue With Far Better Ease Than The Proper Word Vagina . Do You Agree?’ we hear the sharper higher pitch of a digital patch, whose tone is reminiscent of the mijwiz reed clarinet in Dabka music. André owns between 30 and 40 flutes so I’m sure his ear is attuned to myriad indigenous styles and wants to fold them.

There is a wonderful camaraderie and generosity on record between the players, perhaps best illustrated by ‘Dreams Once Buried Beneath The Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens’. A nod to André’s Atlanta roots. A wellspring he continues to draw from.

All in all, I applaud the intention and execution. New Blue Sun is a mystical, ethereal album that will gradually stir something inside you – if you let it.

Keep an eye out for the live shows which will be just as spontaneous and unpredictable as these sessions. Similar ingredients, different dish.

Touchstones: Laraaji, Alice Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Yusef Lateef, Midori Takada, Sam Gendel, Carlos Nino & Friends.

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ANDRé 3000’s TOP FIVE RAPS

A nice full-circle moment will be when André samples his own album and makes another hip-hop classic. But no pressure. In the meantime, here are my favourite verses from him.

1. OutKast – ‘Aquemini’

2. Big Boi – ‘Royal Flush’ (featuring Raekwon & André 3000)

3. Fonzworth Bentley – ‘Everybody’ (featuring André 3000 and Kanye West)

4. Frank Ocean – ‘Pink Matter’ (featuring André 3000)

5. Anderson Paak – ‘Come Home’ (featuring André 3000)

   BONUS: Kanye West – ‘Life of the Party’ (featuring André 3000)