Andre 3000 talks ‘New Blue Sun’ and the future of rap ahead of Boston show

“I think most people think, ‘Oh, he plays a Pied Piper-type classical flute,’ even though I’ve never played a concert flute in my life,” Andre 3000 explained in a recent interview with the Globe. “I started with Indigenous flutes, Indigenous flutes, (that) situation. And now I’m discovering different flutes, different cultures, which I incorporate into the sound.”

“But on stage I don’t just play the flute, I play everything,” he added. “There’s percussion, there’s keys, there’s sounds everywhere. So I think since people advertised it as a flute album, it might mislead a lot of people.”

And while listeners of the new album may think they know what’s in store for him on his concert tour, which ends on Boh Center Theater Wang on Wednesdaythey are probably wrong. Each concert is unique because Andre 3000 and his backing band completely improvise every track on New Blue Sun, so no two concerts are the same. This approach was heavily influenced by Andre 3000’s love of jazz pioneers such as John Coltrane, but he wouldn’t call the new album and subsequent tour full-blown jazz.

“It’s definitely connected to jazz, but only because I’ve been listening to it my whole life,” Andre 3000 said, noting various musical influences and “heroes” such as Alice Coltrane, Surya Botofazina, Yusef Latif and Pharoah Sanders. “I never went to school to study it. I don’t even know what notes I’m playing, so I can’t tell you what chords I’m playing or what key we’re in or anything like that.”

“This is all by ear, so I’m estimating on the spot,” he added.

Andre 3000’s passion for playing the flute began after he moved to the Venice area of ​​Los Angeles several years ago. He became captivated by its sound after hearing Cassia Meador, an award-winning surfer, play the instrument in a breathwork class. She then introduced him to Guillermo Martinez, an expert on Native American and Mesoamerican woodwind instruments who made the hip-hop star’s first flute and became his “flute master,” according to an interview with NPR.

Although Andre 3000 only recently became a professional flutist, he has long been influenced by Native American and Indigenous music, even as a teenager, calling the style of music “powerful.”

“I’ve been into indigenous music since I was 19, for example, I even hang out at community centers and listen to drum circles and Native American chant songs,” Andre 3000 said.

In general, Andre 3000 believes that artists have a responsibility to talk about their global and cultural influence, especially “of other artists who may not have received everyone’s attention but have contributed so much.”

“Every culture has contributed to what we know about music now,” said Andre 3000. “We reached the Western understanding of music, where we put it down to the piano. But long before that there was… Indian music, man, it’s an immersive experience.”

He again nods to Coltrane, whose understanding and study of Indian music, and friendship with Indian sitarist and composer Ravi Shankar, greatly influenced his jazz work.

“Coltrane was interested in Indian music, and so when he plays the soprano saxophone, in many ways he references some of the great Indian musicians,” he added. “So it was around there, man. You just bring it to the forefront and talk about it, letting people know about it.”

According to Andre 3000, the transition from rap to an instrumental approach “wasn’t a problem in itself” but rather a “process”.

“I started playing in nature or other places for myself,” he said. “I just pick up an instrument, I like it, and I study it further; just like I would do (with) guitar before “Hey Ya!” or keyboard before “Ms. Jackson.”

The only challenge for Andre 3000 was staying “excited” and interested in his new endeavor, a feeling he no longer found making hip-hop music. And external pressure to return to his rap roots increased his desire to try something new. (Andre 3000 rapped on Killer Mike’s 2023 “Scientists & Engineers,” but it featured a verse he recorded “maybe eight years ago.”)

“It’s not Coca-Cola,” Andre 3000 said. “I mean, it’s not a formula where you just press a button and then there are sounds. If people demand, ‘Hey, rap, rap, rap,’ I’m one of those people who usually goes the opposite way.”

“But I’d like to make a rap album,” he added. “For years I tried. I tried to write rap. I got beats from all sorts of different producers. And over time, I just stopped liking it as much as I used to. So the challenge is to find a way to love it.”

And while Andre 3000 doesn’t think rap “gets better” with age, “everything has a beginning,” including hip-hop.

“I’m not trying to hang around here just to take up space,” Andre 3000 said. “If I have something to say, rap, yeah, I’ll definitely do it. But I’m always interested in youth, because youth is always the driver of novelty in any genre.”

“And that’s just a fact,” he added. “I think it’s nature’s way of maintaining balance.”

When it comes to hip-hop artists looking to try something new or explore other creative avenues, the longtime rapper has only one piece of advice: Don’t listen to what other people say.

“You have to do what you want, not what the public wants,” Andre told 3000. “I think that’s more important than pleasing anyone.”

The interview has been edited and condensed.

ANDRÉ 3000: NEW BLUE SUN LIVE IN CONCERT

At the Boch Center Wang Theater, Wednesday, 8 p.m. bochcenter.org

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Matt Juul can be reached at [email protected].