After more than a decade since the release of the smash hit, “Hey Ya,” and about a year since a feature, Andre 3000 sat down with GQ Style to provide an update on his latest undertakings, his musical vault and the other half of the duo, OutKast.
The rapper spoke with the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Will Welch for a Q&A, where he also dished on his ideas for an Anita Baker merchandise line, regrets and his relationship with his parents before they passed.
Andre discussed the thought of putting out more music, but ultimately revealed that he feels like he accomplished what he wanted to. The only regret he would have would be never putting out his own project. But, if he were to pass away, “people will find hours and hours of files” of music.
“It’s hard drives of me just in the house alone playing horrible guitar. Me playing the piano. Me playing a little sax. I was trying to find out: What can I be excited about? Because I never was, to me, a great producer or a great writer or a great rapper. I always felt that I was less than everybody else, so I fought harder,” he said, as he explained his diagnosis of a “social thing,” which resulted in his moving to New York to face his issues.
The rapper revealed that he was always uneasy or nervous in the spotlight, which lead to his long hiatus – taking years to re-adjust outside of the limelight. But, much of it had to do with his early success, signing a record deal at the age of 18. However, he said his partner, Big Boi, has always dealt with things easier.
“Big Boi is smart as f*ck. We went to the same high school. I dropped out in 11th grade. Big Boi graduated with honors. When you watch early OutKast videos, Big Boi’s the leader. He always had the confidence, where I was kind of like the shy one. Big Boi can rap better than me – I always said that. If somebody said, “Pick who you want from OutKast to go to battle with you,” it wouldn’t be me. ‘Cause like, what I’ma do? Say some mind shit? You can’t have thoughts in a battle – nobody gives a shit about that.”
When asked about returning to Hip-Hop, he compared the situation to that of Mayweather. Although he knows he can do it, he knows his time is approaching to hang up the towel.
“It’s Mayweather. He knows,” Andre said. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, I can fight maybe three more of ‘em.’ But I’m slowing down, and I see these young kids coming up and I was them. And at a certain point, no matter how Mayweather you are, I think it’s classy to be like, You know what? [brushes off hands]”
Although he doesn’t feel like he’s reached that point yet, he feels like he may have “maybe two more Mayweather fights……or maybe one.”
