André 3000 will not attend the Grammys Sunday night despite being nominated for Album of the Year. The rapper and singer-songwriter’s “New Blue Sun” was a surprise addition to the nominee list.
“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,” he wrote Sunday on Instagram.
“Our album was conceived and recorded in Los Angeles with the spirit of openness and creative collaboration,” André added. “We hope that the rebound of Los Angeles is swift and renewing. Congrats to all the musicians and collaborators being acknowledged. Keep playing.”
André announced the album in November 2023. The record was as co-produced by André and instrumentalist and music producer Carlos Gabriel Niño and was released on Nov. 14 of the same year. The qualifying period for the 2025 Grammys is Sept. 16, 2023, to Aug. 30, 2024.
“The album is a stunning 87-minute mind-bender, minimalist and experimental, tribal and transcendent. One thing it’s not, however, is a rap record: No bars, no beats, no sub-bass,” NPR Music wrote in a joint post with André.
“André doesn’t sing on this joint, either. What he does do is play flute, and plenty of it — contrabass flute, Mayan flutes, bamboo flutes — along with other digital wind instruments. In place of lyrics, he offers eight provocative song titles, the first of which almost reads like a low-key apology, with a knowing wink of irony: ‘I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time.’”
