André 3000 sounded pessimistic about the prospects of a new Outkast album in a conversation with poet Hanif Abdurraqib. 3 Stacks mentioned how his relationship with Big Boi changed in an interview published by The Bitter Southerner.
“People ask, so will there be another Outkast album?” André 3000 said. “I really can’t say, man. I do realize that our chemistries have changed. We’re different people. We’re totally different people. Not to say that we won’t be able to make any kind of music, but I think, yeah, people have to realize, like even in relationships, man, husband and wife, chemistry should change after a while. And I think people think there’s this one thing that has to stay a way, but we are ever-changing, man.”
André 3000, who ditched rap for the flute on his first solo album New Blue Sun, made it clear he’s still friends with Big Boi. The legendary rapper noted his bond with Big Boi goes beyond music.
“You know, people always ask about me and Big Boi,” André 3000 said. “We cool, man. That’s my homie forever. We were friends before doing music.”
Big Boi had fans begging for an Outkast reunion when he shared a brief video of himself and André 3000 hanging out in March. Outkast hasn’t released an album since 2006’s Idlewild.
André 3000, Big Boi and their fellow Dungeon Family members suffered a major loss when Organized Noize’s Rico Wade passed away in April. Wade was one of the architects of the Dungeon Family’s sound. Organized Noize produced countless classics for Outkast, including every song on the duo’s debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.
Big Boi said without Wade “there would be no Outkast.” Organized Noize’s Sleepy Brown and Ray Murray called Wade the cornerstone of their production team and the entire Dungeon Family.