André 3000, known for winning Album of the Year with Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below two decades ago, received three Grammy nominations for his debut solo instrumental flute album New Blue Sun, including a surprising Album of the Year nod alongside the likes of Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Charlie XCX. This album marked the Hip Hop veteran’s first musical release since Outkast’s Idlewild in 2006.

“I was just waking up and I heard that the nominations came in,” he recalled in an interview with the New York Times over the weekend. “We were trying to be nominated in some type of way for alternative jazz or ambient, possibly. But I was totally surprised by this. So yeah, it was super, super, super duper cool.”

In discussing the album's improvisational nature, André emphasized how each performance is unique. “We hit the stage every night not knowing what even the first note I will play, not knowing where we'll go, what instruments you'll hear first. So, it's a pure trust exercise every night in front of people that have paid to come and spend time with us,” he stated. “It’s way more intense than what’s on the album.”

He saw this work as a natural progression of his artistic journey, tracing it back to his Outkast days. “If you really follow it, I started producing Outkast records on ATLiens. On the first album, I did nothing but write raps,” André explained. “It's like, you just go further and further out of orbit. You started on Earth, and you just keep going.”

The project emerged through collaboration with accomplished musicians, particularly Carlos Niño, whom André met by chance. “New Blue Sun is the fresh snow that's fallen on the top of an iceberg that's been moving for a long, long time,” he expressed about the project. “For me, it's important that the kids see what we're doing. Because it says what I've been saying all along — do what you feel.”