Don’t look for André 3000 at this year’s 67th Grammy Awards ceremony.
The artist, who’s traded rap for flute these days, has three Grammy nods including the prestigious Album of the Year for his solo debut, the instrumental collection New Blue Sun. But the nine-time Grammy champ dropped news Saturday morning (Feb. 1) that he’d be missing the 2025 show happening the next day.
“Unfortunately, I’m not able to attend the Grammys tomorrow but some of the New Blue Sun musicians, friends, and supporters will be in attendance,” he shared. “Our album was conceived and recorded in Los Angeles with the spirit of openness and creative collaboration.”
He wrapped up saying, “We hope that the rebound of Los Angeles is swift and renewing. Congrats to all the musicians and collaborators being acknowledged. Keep playing.”
Dropping in November 2023, New Blue Sun was 3000’s first album since Outkast’s finale Idlewild seventeen years ago. While fans were thrown off by the all-instrumental approach, André had actually tried making a rap comeback, linking up with stars like Ye and Frank Ocean in recent years, but couldn’t find his groove with the lyrics.
“I’ve worked with some of the newest, freshest, youngest, and old-school producers. I get beats all the time. I try to write all the time,” 3000 told GQ. “Even now people think, Oh, man, he’s just sitting on raps, or he’s just holding these raps hostage. I ain’t got no raps like that. It actually feels…sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap because I don’t have anything to talk about in that way.”
