Do we really want an Andre 3000 solo album ?

So the other day I was reading an excellent article about Andre 3000, and how we as hip hop heads want and hope desperately for a solo album, and why we probably wont get it in 2013; and various reasons why he hardly records and or wants to record anymore. But after reading it made me think, as much as we say we want the Andre 3000 solo album, do we really want a solo album or do we really want and prefer an Outkast album? I may stand alone in this, but I’m afraid a Dre solo album will not live up to the hype and extremely high standards we’ve set for it. Think about it, we’ve set an impossible standard that if he delivers anything less than a classic album, we’ll be disappointed. Also think about this, what will be the format of the album? Do we want another Love Below?  Although it was creative and a good album, its not what most of us think of when we think of an Andre solo. It’s not as though we want to just hear his voice. Most of us want to put Andre in a box, and not let him have creative freedom and control of his project, and that’s restrictive for an artist like him. We’re going to want the raw, but not preachy Andre and he may not be in that space creatively for a whole album. And lets be honest its going to be somewhat disappointing, if we don’t get a decent dose of Big Boi on the album, they balance each other out and fit together so well.

Think of other people who have gone solo and how it worked out. Other than Scarface and Ice Cube, who got into solo ventures early in their careers before they could be pigeonholed into a group sound or type of music, who else that is known for being in a group, has it worked out for? Prodigy dropped a gem with HNIC, but most of us honestly loved P’s lyrics and Havocs production so it’s a little different.

As much as we may love individuals in the Wu – Tang Clan, we still always want the group album.  

EPMD – Erick and Parish did solo work but it was never as well received or wanted as much as an EPMD album, their solo stuff never had that extra something an EPMD album had.

Gang Starr – even though  it was one emcee, one dj/producer, when ever Guru did his Jazzmatazz or Bald Head slick projects, they were excellently crafted but they didn’t have the magic of a Gang Starr album.

Little Brother – Phonte, Big Pooh and 9^th have all done their own thing, but we always wanted the group project. Phonte did his thing on the Foreign Exchange, but it wasn’t Little Brother, he dropped a damn near perfect album with Charity Starts at Home and it still wasn’t enough, we wanted the Little Brother sound. We’d have taken a 3 ½ mic Little Brother rather than a probably even better rated Phonte album. IJS

A Tribe Called Quest - If anyone were going to drop a solo album in Tribe, we definitely wanted it to be Q-Tip, I think most would agree with that statement. How’d that work out for him? How’d it work out for us?

If any one was gone drop a solo in Goodie Mob, most would have hoped for Cee-Lo, I personally hoped for Big Gipp, but different issue.  I can say how’d it work for him, but more so how’d it work out for us, the hip hop fans? Cee-Lo has gone a different way, and has crossover success now, but most of his Goodie Mob fans are not his current fans, he has a brand new fan base now.

If ever anyone in The Roots would do a solo we hope its Black Though, but if no Roots track is there it’s gone be a problem.
The List goes on and on was Rakim the same without Eric B? What about C.L. Smooth without Pete Rock?
IJS what we really and truly want is another an Outkast album. Maybe a few songs where Dre gives us two verses or more than 16 bars on a verse. I recently listened to Big Boi’s second solo and it was just missing something, Dre. Even though it had the quirky weird beats and crazy subject matter, it didn’t have Dre in any form. And it almost seemed as if with the crazy quirkiness, Big Boi was trying to compensate for both of them. Its his new album that made me appreciate Outkast so much more than ever, because Big Boi brought the soul, funk, pimptatsic style and shined in that role and Dre brings the outside the box stuff and shines at that, and when put together, perfection. So no more solos, ok you can do solos, but work together and please give us the group album. Sincerely, the fans.