André 3000 is headlining this year’s edition of the Atlanta Jazz Festival, on May 25 – 27, 2024!

Nearly twenty years ago, the Atlanta-born legend distanced himself from the hip-hop duo OutKast. From there, he has forged a new direction in his career by focusing on wind instruments.

“I can’t put anything else out in the world if I’m not excited about it because how can I expect you to be excited about it? How can I expect you to think, ‘Oh, this is raw?’” explained the rapper in an interview with GQ.  

In 2018, New Yorkers began spotting André playing a variety of flutes. Soon after that, he started releasing music featuring wind instruments on SoundCloud.

This endeavor culminated with André releasing his debut ambient jazz album, “New Blue Sun,” last November. 

“I think he kind of just got to the point where he might have felt, ‘Okay, I think I’ve pushed every boundary that I can personally, in this particular genre of music, let me step outside of this completely, and create in another space,” added journalist Maurice Garland.  

On May 27, the final day of the festival, André 3000 will perform live at Piedmont Park.