Big Gipp is not allowing any André 3000 slander relating to the release of his flute-driven and bar-free New Blue Sunalbum.
The Goodie Mob rapper sat down with According 2 Hip Hop on Tuesday (November 28) and saluted 3 Stacks for taking creative risks which he believes paved the way for a new genre to emerge.
“André 3000 just opened a new genre for Hip Hop producers and Hip Hop people who play instruments. Remember, Miles Davis never said nothing to you. Kenny G don’t say nothing to you. It’s so many examples of just musicians who had a great amount of success that said nothing to you and played an instrument,” Gipp began. “I feel like, again, this is never about us competing with nobody.
“This is only about us competing with ourself and making sure we push this place and push this genre so far that it opens up another room for aspiring artists and aspiring musicians. That’s what I think. To show you to break the rules and show you that you can.”
Big Gipp continued to back the OutKast’s rapper’s decision to drop an album without any lyrics, saying: “Nobody in New York, nobody in L.A. would say dropping an instrumental album would be the most popular thing to do. Guess what? I think in an era with so much maddening and misdirection and energy, I think it was almost the perfect thing to do.”
According to HITS Daily Double, New Blue Sun opened with 24,244 album equivalent units sold in its first week. The project ultimately debuted at No. 34 on the latest Billboard 200.
While Big Gipp supported André 3000’s daring solo debut, not everyone was a fan of the project. DJ Vlad blasted New Blue Sun, suggesting it was a flop.
“For everyone saying how “genius,” “brave,” and “creative” Andre 3000’s new flute album is, the biggest song on the album has 17,000 streams. The last song has less than 2,000 streams,” Vlad wrote.
He continued: “In comparison, Outkast still gets 20 million listeners a month. So yeah, the numbers speak for themselves.”
However, Questlove pushed back against the narrative and threw his support behind the project while giving 3 Stacks his flowers.
“I am no stranger to the ‘departure album’ […] albums the complete opposite of what the artist is known for,” The Roots co-founder wrote on Instagram. “I knew this 3000 jawn was a left turn but I didn’t know it’s the RIGHT left turn.”
Referring to the new record as “good medicine,” he added: “I always said ‘one day imma make the ambient record I’d love to sleep and dream to’ (btw, watching violent shit/sleeping to news/sleeping in stressful environment takes years off your life—-so this is why I invest heavy in stuff like this.) thank you @andre3000 #NewBlueSun.”