Andre 3000 Stewing Over What To 'Cook Up' For New Outkast LP

[Meho]

He also explains his flurry of recent guest appearances: 'It wasn't like a divine plan or anything.'

Andre 3000 has been one of the most prolific rappers in hip-hop in recent months, dropping lyrical gems on a variety of artists' singles, remixes and mixtape tracks. He's also been its most elusive figure, ducking the spotlight when inquiring minds — and reporters — come calling.

But Dre finally came out of hiding on Wednesday in Los Angeles while on the set for the upcoming UGK video "Int'l Players Anthem," which features Dre and his Outkast partner, Big Boi. In an exclusive interview with MTV News, he addressed his string of guest verses.

"Really, [it's been] all by chance, it wasn't like a divine plan or anything," he told MTV News from his trailer. "It was locally-charged. You had some guys that are from Atlanta that I know, that are producers, that had a couple of beats. They were like, 'Would you get on the remix?' I said, 'Sure.' "

On Outkast's "Idlewild" soundtrack, Dre responded to critics of his more adventurous musical forays by returning to his tried-and-true rapping style. Compared to previous multiplatinum sales of Outkast albums, though, the soundtrack was considered a commercial disappointment, and little had been heard from Dre since (see "Big Boi Plays Games, Golf; Andre 3000 Re-Enacts Seattle Battle").

His emergence recently on a seemingly random assortment of tracks has come out of nowhere. The spots include guest verses on the remix to Rich Boy's "Throw Some D's" (also featuring the Game, Nelly, Murphy Lee and Jim Jones); the latest Devin the Dude single, "What a Job" (also featuring Snoop Dogg); Lloyd's "You" remix (also featuring Nas); and the Outkast cameo on UGK's single. It actually started in October, when he appeared on the remix to DJ Unk's hit single, "Walk It Out" (also featuring Big Boi and Jim Jones).

"I think [Outkast DJ Cutmaster Swift] told me that it would be a good idea to get on 'Walk It Out' 'cause I like the song anyway," he said. "You know, Atlanta [is] a whole 'nother thing. The song was a jamming song, and it's like, why not? They sent an instrumental — let me see what I can do to it.

"It's all about if I can write to it, because I actually get a lot of offers to be on songs I would really like to be on, but I just can't write in time. I be doing so much, it's crazy. But I wrote my little piece, went to the studio, put it down and they dug it. That was it. To me, it's all about the beat. If it's jammin' so hard when you writin' to it, you just wanna say something."

Part of the reason Dre has been so elusive lately is because he's been focusing on his burgeoning acting career. Currently, he's been in Los Angeles shooting "Semi-Pro," a Will Ferrell sports comedy set against the 1970s-era American Basketball Association.

Still, the movie couldn't hold Dre back from working with Bun B and Pimp C again — Outkast and UGK first collaborated on the "Shaft" soundtrack song "Tough Guy" in 2000. "We grew up listening to those guys," Dre beamed. "They're living legends."

Outkast's participation on the new UGK single came courtesy Three 6 Mafia, who produced the song and were originally to appear as the guest MCs.

"Juicy J did the beat and sent it over," he said. "It was jammin' and I started writing. I hit Bun B on text [message], and said, 'Is it too late for me to get on this song?' — because they were a weekend away from finishing up the album. Bun sent me back a message: 'What? Of course not.'

"What's funny is I tried to rap my verse to the beat so many times and it just didn't feel right," he continued. "[My verse] is more like a conversational piece. So I told the engineer to drop the beat out, and we tried it that way. It worked and we just left it in like that. Honestly, I never thought we'd get away with it because that's a long-ass motherf------ verse!"

Dre admitted that he and Big Boi are talking about the next Outkast album, which may be another dual-solo release, like Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below. "Really, I gotta find out what I'm tryin' to say," he said. "It's almost like a picnic — you call your auntie and say, 'You bringin' some greens? Yeah? OK, I'm not gonna bring any greens.' I gotta find out what I gotta cook up. But to quote James Brown, 'Whatever it is, it's got to be funky.' "

The video for "Int'l Players Anthem" is due to be completed at the end of this month. UGK's next album, Underground Kingz, is due July 17.

source-mtv.com

[KURUPTION-81]

i would love andre to go back to rapping his verses, i dont mind him singing the hook because i like his singing.

[floatin_above_everything]

Sometimes his singing isn't that bad, but when he does actually rap a verse, there are very few in this game that could fuck with him. I haven't been a huge fan of Outkast since Aquemini anyways, they are a little to eclectic for my tastes sometimes.

[jeromechickenbone]

This is kinda sad.  You had the HUGE disappointment of Idlewild (both critically and commercially), and Outkast and their label proceeds to freak the fuck out.  The end result is Andre doing random ass guest appearances on all these "mainstream" joints because he and his label are in official panic mode because they think all the sudden the brilliance behind OutKast is irrelevant, and they can no longer push units.

Well, now OutKast's next album is gonna be two separate discs again?  I loved Speakerboxx/Love Below, so I'm not gonna hate off top, but I'm just sayin that at this point give me a true OutKast album.  I don't want a couple of solos packaged together and called OutKast so they can hype it more.  These guys don't have the chemistry they once had, they don't kick it, they don't enjoy the same music, they have different ambitions.  Let the shit be and move on.

[GangstaBoogy]

I wouldn't mind Dre doing another solo if he's actually rapping this time. "The Love Below" was coo but he's too great of a rapper to be singing entire albums.

[MANBEARPIG.]

im gonna check for whatever they drop regardless. 

[KURUPTION-81]

im gonna check for whatever they drop regardless. 

true , i thought idlewild was pretty good overall.

[GATMAN]

Hope They take it back to the Streets on their new shit