André 3000 Surprise Office Concert + Interview: Watch!

Video Description

This week, André 3000 sat down with Popcast, The New York Times music podcast, for a wide-ranging interview about his journey from platinum-selling rapper and pop star to experimental flutist, discussing what it’s like to improvise after a career of writing down raps, the perks of naïveté and a tour-saving call from Prince. Following his interview, André 3000 and the band behind the Grammy-nominated “New Blue Sun” — featuring Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau, Carlos Niño and Deantoni Parks — performed an improvised piece in The Times’ newsroom. 00:29 Introduction 01:48 Reflecting on Outkast’s 2004 Grammy win for album of the year 03:24 His 1995 Source Awards Speech 06:09 Grammy nominations for “New Blue Sun” 09:33 Improvising in music 12:06 Freestyle rapping vs. writing and today’s punching-in technique 17:17 Learning instruments 20:09 Rap and youth 26:24 Acting and being honest on screen 30:00 Keeping the excitement alive 32:10 His Coachella conversation with Prince 37:53 His verse on Killer Mike’s “Scientists and Engineers” 40:15 His verse on Kanye West’s “Life of the Party” and Drake’s role in leaking it 45:30 YouTube rabbit holes 47:30 Performing with his flutes and the “New Blue Sun” band 53:35 Future new music 58:00 Fame and anxiety 1:09:57 Performance in the NYT newsroom! Follow Jon: https://twitter.com/joncaramanica https://www.instagram.com/joncaramanica Follow Joe: https://twitter.com/joecoscarelli https://www.instagram.com/joecoscarelli/ Listen to every Popcast ever https://www.nytimes.com/popcast Every episode of Popcast (Deluxe) on YouTube https://tinyurl.com/PopcastDeluxe Popcast Discord! https://tinyurl.com/PopcastDiscord Popcast Facebook! https://tinyurl.com/PopcastFacebook Popcast t-shirts & stickers http://itsthepopcast.myshopify.com Subscribe: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7n More from The New York Times Video: http://nytimes.com/video