Pharrell Says André 3000 Isn’t Done With Hip-Hop: “Give Him His Time”

Pharrell believes fans yearning for new André 3000 raps will eventually get their wish. The acclaimed producer said he expects André 3000 to return to his Hip-Hop roots after ditching rhymes for the flute.

“People got all this judgment and they don’t understand,” Pharrell told GQ. “People should just give him his time. He’s going to be back. That feeling finds you—you can’t run from it. He not running, he just saying he not going to force it. What you love about him was when he was compelled. It’ll be back. And when it does, he’s going to come in hot.”

André 3000 has often mentioned how he struggled to find the inspiration to continue rapping as he got older. He seemingly left rap behind for good when he released his instrumental album New Blue Sun in 2023. The ambient project ended his musical hiatus as he pivoted to playing the flute.

“Even now people think, ‘Oh, man, he’s just sitting on raps,’ or he’s just holding these raps hostage,” André 3000 said in 2023. “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.”

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Grammy voters nominated New Blue Sun for Album of the Year. André 3000’s instrumental album stood out in a field largely dominated by pop stars. André 3000’s fellow nominees included Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Jacob Collier.

New Blue Sun also scored a nomination for Best Alternative Jazz Album. André 3000’s song “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time” is up for Best Instrumental Composition.

The 67th Annual Grammy Awards take place on February 2, 2025. The event will air on CBS and stream on Paramount Plus.