Andre 3000 and the peak of loneliness.
Andre Benjamin is a master of his craft.
As a member of OutKast, along with counterpart Big Boi, ‘Dre has help create some of the most memorable and classic Hip Hop songs and albums over the past 20 years. Aquemini, SpeakerBoxxx/The Love Below, ATLiens, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik. These are all masterpieces in their own ways, largely due to Andre’s innovativeness as well as his off the wall unpredictability which broadened the groups range to the point to which they won six GRAMMYs in the early 2000’s, including album of the year, which was unheard of for a rap album at the time.
Andre continued his musical career beyond OutKast’s final album in 2006, working with titans of the 2010’s such as Frank Ocean, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Drake, and Kanye West among countless others. Many of these artists will say Andre is in their Top 5 of all time, despite the fact he never even released a solo project, and there isn’t an Atlanta rapper today that doesn’t mention him as one of their main influences.
Andre is a legend, but if you were to ask him, he’d tell it differently. There is an interview by GQ from October 2017 (https://www.gq.com/story/andre-3000-outkast-gq-style-interview) where Andre talks about where he has been over the past decade, and what he’s done to pass the time since he’s been largely absent from the music scene as well as the public limelight since Idlewild marked the end of OutKast’s discography. And for someone who considers Andre as one of his idols in many different ways, it’s hard to hear what his life has become.
Both of Andre’s parents have passed away, and his son has moved off to college, leaving him with a multitude of time and not many activities to fill it with. Despite his legendary status in music as a whole, Andre believes he is past it. He believes that he is a mediocre artist and not fresh or new enough to ever make a dent in today’s landscape. The man who played the guitar on Hey Ya!, the piano on Ms.Jackson, still believes he can’t play an instrument well.
The one thing Andre does expound upon is his excitement for other artists who currently are coming out now, he has been part of multiple projects as stated before, but as for the infamous solo album that has been teased since OutKast last release, it seems like Andre believes that the game has passed him by. It’s a young man’s industry and he isn’t very young anymore, which in his mind, means that the pulse and rhythms of modern music are no longer privy to him. None of that matters of course, because the type of music Andre makes and made were timeless, and stuff like that will never truly age.
We all have self-doubt, that doesn’t just disappear when you accomplish great things, and similarly, success doesn’t prevent you from getting burnt out either. Childish Gambino ran his course in music, and transitioned into acting and films, Pharrell and Kanye have at least partly shifted some of their focus to fashion seemingly to enrich their careers post-music. Andre has already dabbled in both of those avenues, and those are two of the more obvious career paths that Hip Hop artists seem to take after they cease putting out new albums, so it’s up to Andre to find a unique avenue for his immense creativity. As of now, he hasn’t
Andre’s story is a microcosm of our society as a whole. Our lives are an endless chase for self-worth and fulfillment, but once you get to the point where Andre is now, where he has accomplished everything he has set out to do so early in life, that as he ages he is a metaphorical soldier without a cause. He is lost. He currently is stuck in a mind state where he has conquered his mountain and now feels like he has nothing more to do. OutKast was 17 when they got signed, they have been stars for the last three decades, but where Big Boi has continued to make solo albums and further his career, Andre has decided to forge a different path, which would be perfectly fine if he wasn’t lost in the world around him. He has enough connections and money to do whatever he wants for the rest of his life, but the most depressing part is, nothing excites him enough.
It’s not exactly a unique situation, but in the vein it is. You see the simple vacancy of desire or absence of routine all the time in sports, acting, it’s even present in everyday retirees. They finish their work and have a void that they have trouble filling, but what does make Andre’s conundrum unique is that he doesn’t have the love for his former profession that others did. In the GQ article referenced before, Dre states that he hates going to the studio to record for himself now. His self-doubt has gotten so bad to the point where he can’t even move backwards. His future is a mystery. Their is no clear next step or new challenge he wishes or finds himself capable to complete.
Nobody wants to see anyone like this, but it stings especially more when it’s one of your personal idols who are feeling the burden of this life. Humans as a species, are never wholly satisfied, we can achieve our wildest dreams and still desire more on top of it. There is no “completing” life, there is no inherent singular end goal which we strive to complete. In addition, one solitary activity cannot sustain us forever, we need some sort of variety and a diversification of our daily lives to be happy, and eventually, after you’ve been exposed as many different avenues as you envisioned yourself exploring, especially at such a young age as Andre has, it has to be difficult to find a new passion. I hope he does, he’s given so much, he deserves peace in whatever he chooses next.
So low my halo stay way low, it feels like it’s bent
So low that when they throw p**** or pesos
I don’t pay no attention to it
So low that I am no rookie but feel like a kid
Lookin’ at the other kids
With astonishment while I’m on punishment
Watchin’ the summer come close to an end
