Andre 3000 Sellout - Rapper, singer-songwriter and actor Andre 3000 (born Andre Lauren Benjamin) has opened up on how he felt during his summer OutKast reunion with Big Boi, after almost a decade of not performing as a hip hop duo.
Andre particularly addressed why he wore custom jumpsuits on the shows and why he thinks he was a complete sellout at that time, Rolling Stone reports.
"It felt weird about going out on stage and doing it again," Benjamin said. "I felt like people would be like, 'Y'all are doing all these festivals, y'all are just doing it for money." And I felt like a sellout, honestly. So I was like, if I'm in on the joke, I'll feel cool about it."
The 39-year-old then explained the idea behind the custom jumpsuits, which are now at Art Basel in Miami, to Nicholas Jaar of The Fader.
"Honestly, just, you know - I didn't wanna do the tour. We hadn't performed in 10 years. It was old songs. I'm like, How am I gonna present these songs? I don't have nothing new to say," the "Semi-Pro" actor dished. "So I was like, maybe I can start saying new stuff while doing these old songs. It became a theme where I was more excited about this than the actual show. This is fun, running out in these."
To further embody his "sellout" experience, Andre 3000 paired up his jumpsuits with a platinum wig and a conspicuous price tag on one side that read "SOLD."
"I'm 39, I got a 17-year-old kid and I gotta support certain things," the "Jimi: All Is By My Side" actor said.
"And my partner Big Boi is like, 'This is a great thing for all of us.' So I felt like there was a certain sell-out in a way, because I didn't wanna do it - I knew I was doing it for a reason."
"So maybe if I'm telling people, 'I am selling out,' then it's not as bad as pretending. It's being honest about it like, 'Shit, I did these songs when I was 17 and I'm out here peddling them now.' But it's the honest thing, that's what it is."
The OutKast reunion need in November, with the duo's last show staged at the Voodoo festival in New Orleans.
Interestingly, Andre 3000 revealed that Prince reminded him how to do and enjoy the show following the Coachella event in August, reports The Guardian.
"He said: 'When you come back, people want to be wowed. And what's the best way to wow people? Just give them the hits,'" Benjamin finally remarked.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
