ENTERTAINMENT
From Issue #14
Andre 3000 Interview
by Lori Saunders and Shabnam Samim
Faze caught up with Andre 3000, one half of the
Grammy Award winning hip hop duo OutKast, and he had
lots to say. Talking about love, life, hip-hop and God, he
says a lot of things happen that are out of his hands, but
he knows success comes from “keeping it going, even if
you’re scared to do it.”
After auditioning for La Face Records early in their
career, Andre says he was ready to forget about music
and move on. “When we first started we did three
showcases for [La Face] and they turned us down the
first two times,” he says. “After the first showcase I was
all upset because I was like, ‘We just rocked that and
they don’t even like us.’ I was like, ‘Man, I’m not rappin’
anymore. I’m going back to school,’” he says.
But it was
Big Boi, the other half of the duo, who wouldn’t let go.
“He was like, ‘No man. We’ve come this far. We’ve got
to keep going,’” he says. Andre admits that if he had
given in to his frustrations that day at La Face, “There
would be no OutKast.”“I just feel blessed that I’m able to influence people because it was never planned.”
Some Andre 3000 soundbites from the Faze interview...
“The most negative thing that I’ve heard about my music is that it’s not hip hop.”
“I worry all the time about putting out something that might eliminate my group.”
“There is no competition between me and Big Boi, because we’re not trying to get into the same door.”
“The more shows I do, the less I wanna be on stage. I want to do other things like produce.”
“If you have a gift, or even if you don’t, you have to stay around people who motivate you.”
“I don’t even consider myself an entertainer.”
“’Keeping it real’ killed hip hop, because a lot of people stopped keeping it real.”
“I never even knew I was going to be in music. I thought I was going to be an artist.”
“George Clinton [one of the most influential figures in Funk] is the freakiest person I’ve ever met."
Photo courtesy of BMG Music Canada.
