BY MELISSA RUGGIERI
The Outkast tour is over and Andre 3000 is in Miami for the introduction of his jumpsuit display during Art Basel.
During a walk through of the exhibition, which runs through Dec. 14, Andre 3000 spoke candidly to musician Nicholas Jaar, reporting for Fader, about how he didn't want to do the Outkast tour. The heralded return of Andre 3000 and his partner Big Boi hit more than 40 festivals, including a triumphant three-night stand in their hometown in September.
“Honestly, just, you know—I didn't wanna do the tour. We hadn't performed in 10 years. It was old songs,” Andre said. "I'm like, How am I gonna present these songs? I don't have nothing new to say.”
To combat his ambivalence, Andre sported a custom jumpsuit each night on stage that included a price tag that read “SOLD.”
"I felt weird about going out on stage and doing it again. I felt like people would be like, 'Y'all are doing all these festivals, y'all are just doing it for money,' he told Jaar. "And I felt like a sell-out, honestly. So I was like, if I'm in on the joke, I'll feel cool about it."
"It was a decision," he continued. "I'm 39, I got a 17-year-old kid, and I gotta support certain things. And my partner Big Boi is like, 'This is a great thing for all of us.' So I felt like there was a certain sell-out in a way, because I didn't wanna do it—I knew I was doing it for a reason. So maybe if I'm telling people, 'I am selling out,' then it's not as bad as pretending. It's being honest about it like, 'S***, I did these songs when I was 17 and I'm out here pedaling them now.' But it's the honest thing, that's what it is."
In the brief yet frank interview, Andre also refers to Outkast’s first show back, at Coachella, as “horrible” and talks about why he isn’t on Twitter or Instagram.
His exhibit, “I feel ya: SCAD + Andre 3000 Benjamin,” presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design and the SCAD Museum of Art, is expected to be in Savannah in the summer.
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