5 questions for André 3000 before his show in Dallas

When André 3000 performs at the Winspear Opera House on Saturday, it will be a homecoming of sorts. The former Outkast rapper lived in Dallas for two years in the 2010s when Seven, his son with Erykah Badu, was a teenager.

His most important memory of Big D?

“Very hot,” says the Atlanta native. “I didn't know it could get so hot in Dallas.”

His music these days is the exact opposite: cool, calm and meditative.

His first album in 17 years, New blue sun, is an 87-minute sound bath with André on various flutes, accompanied by a subtle band. He recorded it at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California.

“It was completely improvised,” he says in a phone interview. “Our only intention was to transport ourselves and listen to ourselves. That was all. It's not this perfect virtuoso flute album, you know? It feels like a child discovering something.”

How did you start playing woodwind instruments? What did you like about it?

Well, I've been playing around with it since the Outkast days. I bought a saxophone because of John Coltrane and I went from saxophone to clarinet and then bass clarinet and that took me to a whole new level.

This (current project) started about seven years ago with Mesoamerican and Native American flutes. I heard someone playing it, liked the sound, and was so excited to play it every day that I just started carrying my flute around with me and going for walks and hikes with it.

I play the flute (in the car). It started with me playing at traffic lights, and then I actually drive the car and play, I steer the steering wheel with my knees and play the flute. I know. It's very dangerous, but I can't help it.

With wind instruments, you hear the human being inside. When you play the guitar, piano or drums, it's the human being hitting an object and making a sound. But with wind instruments, you actually hear the wind of a human being passing through an object. It's immediate.

I love the title of your new song: “I swear I really wanted to make a rap album, but this time the wind literally blew me through like this.” Did you really plan on making a rap album?

I definitely was. And I hate when people think this is a joke or I'm trolling. My whole career, I've kind of gone with the flow. Every time we put out an album, sometimes people would say, “What the hell?” Every time I finished an Outkast album, I would sit in the car with my favorite older cousin and let him listen to it, and every time we finished, he'd say, “Man! I'm so scared for you.” And that's when I knew it was on the right track.

You know, I'm not mad at people (who are upset that it's not a rap album). We're human. We want what we want. I get that, man. I I would like to have a rap album, that's why I mentioned the title. But that's just not what's on the agenda.

You follow your own creative path, as does our local heroine Erykah Badu. Did you influence each other's artistic approach when you were a couple?

When we were together, we influenced each other in weird ways, you know? We turned each other on to certain music, lived together, sang together. It was almost like a twin flame situation.

So yes, of course I was influenced by her. And it went both ways, you know? I think there was this big misunderstanding – I laugh about it now – that some kind of voodoo or something was imposed on me. But we encouraged each other (artistically).

With the Outkast hit “Hey Ya!” from 2003, you popularized the phrase “Shake it like a Polaroid picture.” Today, Polaroid pictures are back in fashion. Are you proud of that?

I noticed that, and I think they just came out with a new version of it. I think it's cool that young people are rediscovering it. But what I said in the song was actually the wrong way to handle Polaroids. It's funny. When (Polaroid) finally told me not to shake them, they said it was because it messes up the emulsion of the photo. I've never heard that word before, but it sounds like emotion, right? You don't want to mess up the emulsion of the photo. Emotion.

What is the biggest misconception about you or your music?

You know what? A lot of people look at my career and say, “Oh, he's fearless!” But I have to say, it's the exact opposite. When I'm doing it, I'm not afraid. It's so natural. The hard part comes when you present it to other people. That's the part that's scary. I'm often very, very scared.

(With anxiety) it's all about how you deal with it. I can't say it's any easier (than it used to be). But I can say you just look at it differently. You think, 'Hey, this is just a part of life.' And you find ways to take a deep breath, smile and just keep going, man. That's the only thing you can do. There's no need to worry, you know? That just makes it worse.

Details

André 3000 and opening act Sudan Archives perform Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Winspear Opera House, 2403 Flora St., Dallas. From $49.50. attpac.org