André 3000 – “7 Piano Sketches” review

Brand new surprise 3rd EP from Atlanta, Georgia emcee, singer/songwriter, producer, actor & the Prince of hip hop André 3000. Coming up as 1/2 of the greatest hip hop duo of all-time OutKast with Big Boi whom he met at Lenox Square Mall when they were both 16, they were also a part of the Dungeon Family collective & released some of my favorite music EVER! This includes ATLiens, Aquemini, Stankonia & Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. The 2nd disc of which was basically the closest thing we got to a solo album from 3 Stacks up to this point. However after what would eventually be their final album Idlewild serving as a soundtrack to the movie of the same name, they would focus on their solo careers. Francis the Savannah Chitlin’ Pimp mostly notably putting out 3 full-length LPs of his own as well as an eponymous EP as Big Grams & an eponymous debut album as Big Sleepover too. André 3000 however stuck to doing features & pursuing an acting career, putting out an avant-garde jazz EP on Mother’s Day 2018 called Look Ma No Hands & signing to Epic Records for the new age ambient-driven solo debut New Blue Sun to critical acclaim. Moving Day was a fine collection of 2 outtakes from the New Blue Sun sessions & has laid out 7 Piano Sketches out of nowhere.

“Bluffing in the Snow” was a great intro to the EP showing off his keyboardist abilities for 3 minutes whereas “& Then One Day You’ll…” works in some more cumbersome tone to the notes he’s playing further assuming “die” to be the missing word in the title of the composition prior to the 34 second “When You’re a Ant & You Wake Up in an Awesome Mood About to Drive Your Son to School Only to Discover You Left the Lights on in the Car Last Night, So Your Battery is Drained” interlude.

The name “Hotel Lobby Pianos” goes for that exact vibe feeling like I’m walking into Circa Resort & Casino or any other high quality resort on the verge of checking in just before “Blueberry Mansions” turns it up on the luxuriousness for almost a couple minutes. “Off Rhythm Laughter” lives up to its name playing the piano overlapping a laughing sample that’s not on rhythm. “I Spend All Day Waiting for the Night” finishes by adding some drums in the fold for a climatic closer that I can hear at the end of a show or a movie.

Not too shocked to see people complaining about him doing anything except dropping a whole hip hop album but like I said when I reviewed New Blue Sun: André 3000 is literally one of those guys who can do just about anything & can find a way to pull it off. Instead of him using woodwinds like he did on that LP & the previous EP Moving Day, he’s playing the piano with hints of spoken word because of every track starting with the track number & title being said out loud for an easy listening experience.

Score: 3.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

André 3000 – “New Blue Sun” review

It’s still surreal to me that I’m actually fucking saying this but this is the official solo debut album from Atlanta, Georgia emcee, singer/songwriter, producer, actor & visionary André 3000. Coming up as 1/2 of the greatest hip hop duo of all-time OutKast with Big Boiwhom he met at Lenox Square Mall when they were both 16, they were also a part of the Dungeon Family collective & released some of my favorite music EVER! This includes ATLiens, Aquemeni, Stankonia & Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. The 2nd disc of which was basically the closest thing we got to a solo album from 3 Stacks up to this point. However after what would eventually be their final album Idlewild serving as a soundtrack to the movie of the same name they would focus on their solo careers. Francis the Savannah Chitlin’ Pimp mostly notably putting out 3 full-length LPs of his own as well as an eponymous EP as Big Grams & an eponymous debut album as Big Sleepover too. André 3000 however stuck to doing features & pursuing an acting career most recently in the A24 Films comedy drama Showing Up, putting out an avant-garde jazz EP on Mother’s Day 2018 called Look Ma No Hands. So considering that, I’m not too surprised by New Blue Sun expanding on jazz music in a flute-heavy fashion because I like to consider Dré as the Prince of hip hop in the sense that he can do just about anything musically.

“I Swear I Really Wanted to Make a Rap Album, But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time” is a peaceful 12 & a half minute opener to the LP that I can imagine hearing after waking up on a beautiful morning whereas “The Slang Word Pussy Rolls Off the Tongue with Far Better Ease Than the Proper Word Vagina. Do You Agree?” takes the atmospheric route instrumentally & I absolutely agree with the question. “That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into a Panther & Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control…” makes me feel like I’m walking through a jungle for 10 & a half minutes in the best way possible, but then “BuyPoloDisorder’s Daughter Wears a 3000® Button Down Embroidered” sounds like he made this 13-minute piece in the midst of watching The Mandalorian or something.

To start the 2nd half of the album, “93 ‘Til Infinity & Beyoncé” is the shortest cut on the entire LP yet still absolutely euphoric from start to finish just before “Ghandi, Dalai Lama, Your Lord & Savior J.C. / Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer & John Wayne Gacy” keeps the peaceful vibes in tact. The penultimate “Ants to You, Gods to Who?” goes for a futuristic approach sonically & “Dreams Once Buried Beneath the Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens” is a magical 17 minute closer.

Like I said on Twitter at the beginning of the week: I’m not even mad at 3 Stacks for doing an ambient, new age spiritual jazz album because he’s just one of those guys who can do just about anything & it makes me very happy that this day has come as a long time OutKast fan because this is way better than Look Ma No Hands over 5 years ago. His production also showcases elements of progressive electronic, tribal ambient, Andean new age & Native American new age in the most soothing ways you can imagine.

Score: 4.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

André 3000 – “Look Ma No Hands” review

With today being Mother’s Day, former OutKast member André 3000 is coming out of the blue with a 2 track EP. The first track “Me&My(To Bury Your Parents)”, where 3 Stacks sings about memories of being with his mom at a grocery store & driving to a football game with his dad over a somber piano from Kevin Kendrick. The other one is the title track, which is just a beautiful 17 minute free jazz instrumental.

I always thought The Love Below would be the closest thing we’d ever get to an André 3000 solo project, but this EP was a pleasant surprise. I wish it was more than just 2 tracks, but it goes to show that he’s still a very talented singer & producer to this very day

Score: 4/5

Big Boi – “Boomiverse” review

Almost 5 years after his last album Vicious Lies & Dangerous Rumors, OutKast member Big Boi is finally returning with his 3rd full-length album (4th if you count Speakerboxxx). The album opens up with “Da Next Day”, where he’s talking about how “it’s time to stir the pot” over a futuristic sounding yet symphonic beat from Organized Noize. The next track “Kill Jill” with Killer Mike sees Mike hitting on a woman as well as Big Boi talking about his comeback referencing former 3-time NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion & WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes over decent trap beat with a cool vocal sample & the Jeezy hook enhances the energy of the track. Also, I find Big Boi’s flow on here to be WAY better than Mike’s. The song “Mic Jack” is a club track with an old school electrofunk beat from DJ Khalil, but the Adam Levine hook is so-so. The track “In the South” talks about Southern ghetto life & while I do appreciate the Pimp C hook, I was a bit disappointed to hear that Gucci Mane reused the opening verse from “Lil Dudes” off his The Return of Mr. Perfect mixtape for the opening verse for this. The song “Order of Operations” talks about “grinding & stacking” over a spacey beat from Scott Storch. Honestly, it makes me really happy to hear that Scott still has it in him. The track “All Night” talks about kicking it with some chick over some old-timey sounding piano keys & the acoustic guitar strings during the last minute are nice too, but I thought the execution of the hook was just atrocious. The song “Get Wit It” has a beat that I can imagine hearing E-40 rapping over & I actually think the guest verse from WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg was harder than Big Boi’s verse. The track “Overthunk” talks about overthinking over a beat sounds somewhat Atari-ish & the Eric Bellinger hook isn’t too bad either. The song “Chocolate” is a club banger with a hip house beat & it actually comes off as pretty infectious. The song “Made Men” with Killer Mike & Kurupt talks about how their styles can’t be cloned as well as how you need to save yourself instead of your homies over a beat that sounds inspired by a retro game, but the uncredited 2nd verse from recording engineer Renegade El Rey was just meh. The penultimate track “Freakanomics” redundantly talks about sex, but the only good thing about the beat is the saxophone that pops in both at the beginning & at the end. The album then finishes with “Follow Deez”, where Big Boi gets with Curren$y & Killer Mike to deliver some hard southern G shit over a menacing beat from Mannie Fresh. Even though I wouldn’t say this isn’t any better or worse than previous album, it’s still a solid effort & worth checking out in my opinion. Some the song topics could’ve been better on a few tracks & I personally would’ve trimmed a couple features, but Big Boi’s underappreciated skills are certainly still there & the production SLAPS!

Score: 3.5/5