André 3000 is set to miss the Grammys ceremony, despite being nominated for multiple awards, including Album of the Year.
‘New Blue Sun’, the OutKast rapper’s debut solo album, was released in November 2023 and has been nominated in three categories at the Grammys: Album of the Year, Best Alternative Jazz Album and Best Instrumental Composition for ‘I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time’.
With the ceremony taking place in Los Angeles on Sunday night (February 2), André has confirmed he will not be in attendance. Writing on Instagram on Saturday, he said: “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.”
“Our album was conceived and recorded in Los Angeles with the spirit of openness and creative collaboration,” he added. “We hope that the rebound of Los Angeles is swift and renewing. Congrats to all the musicians and collaborators being acknowledged. Keep playing.”
In the Album of the Year category, ‘New Blue Sun’ is up against Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’, Billie Eilish’s ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’, Chappell Roan’s ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’, Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’, Jacob Collier’s ‘Djesse Vol. 4’, Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Short n’ Sweet’ and Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.
After receiving his nominations in November, André spoke about his surprise at making the shortlist for such a major category. “We were trying to be nominated in some type of way for alternative jazz or ambient, possibly,” he admitted. “But I was totally surprised by this. So yeah, it was super, super, super duper cool.”
‘New Blue Sun’ is an 87-minute ambient jazz flute album that includes no beats or raps. “I’ve always kind of been analysing it or figuring out how I wanted to approach it… I have to feel happy about sharing it,” he said about his approach to the album.
“That’s why ‘New Blue Sun’ was something that I realised, whoa, I really want people to hear it. I really want to share it. That’s my only gauge. I have to like it as a person, as an artist myself, because if I don’t like it I can’t expect nobody else to like it. I can’t pretend in that way. That’s always been hard for me”.
André has told fans to expect “new music for sure” in 2025. “I don’t wanna pinpoint what it is, but I just want to express more…put it like that,” he told Amazon Music in November.
He has also said that OutKast are “further away” from new music “than we’ve ever been” in December.