OutKast star Andre 3000 hated reunion shows: 'I felt like a sell-out'
The rapper wore custom jumpsuits in an effort to add something fresh
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Your support makes all the difference.OutKast rapper Andre 3000 has admitted to feeling like he was “selling out” during the hip-hop duo’s recent reunion tour.
The “Hey Ya” singer rejoined forces with Big Boi for a string of shows this summer, including a headline slot at Bestival, but it was the financial motive that drove their comeback rather than any love for the band.
Andre wore a price tag reading ‘sold’ at each of OutKast’s 2014 gigs and the reason behind it is pretty self explicit.
“I felt weird about going out onstage and doing it again. I felt people would be like, ‘Y’all are doing all these festivals, y’all are just doing it for money,” he told The Fader. “I felt like a sell-out, honestly.
“I was like, if I’m in on the joke I’ll feel cool about it. I’m 39, I got a 17-year-old kid and I gotta support certain things. 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.”
In fact, Andre was so disillusioned with performing OutKast’s old hits again that he got “more excited” choosing slogans for his jumpsuits than playing the shows he wore them at.
“I didn’t wanna do the tour. We hadn’t performed in ten years. It was old songs,” he told The Fader. “I’m like, how I am gonna present these songs? I don’t have nothing new to say. 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.”
OutKast last performed on 31 October in LA and, unsurprisingly given Andre’s comments, there are no plans for any future shows.
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