The Outkast member says his long-awaited new album is 'just not coming' because every time people attack everything he puts out, 'it makes you kind of draw back.'

• Dec 18, 2019

AceShowbiz - This is bad news for Andre 3000's fans. Those who have been waiting for a new project from the rapper, who is also known as Andre Benjamin, have to have more patience as he has said that his new album isn't coming anytime soon.

The one-half of hip-hop act Outkast recently appeared on the "Broken Record" podcast where he discussed how too much attention and critics killed his creative drive. "I haven't been making much music, man," he said. "My focus is not there. My confidence is not there."

And it's not that he's not trying. "I tinker - I tinker a lot. Like I'll just go to a piano and I'll set my iPhone down and just record what I'm doing, move my fingers and whatever happens, but I haven't been motivated to do a serious project. I'd like to, but it's just not coming," so the 44-year-old shared.

Andre also blamed the scrutiny his work receives for his lack of creative drive. "Now any little thing I put out is instantly attacked," he lamented. "Not in a good or bad way. People nitpick it with a fine-tooth comb. 'Oh, he said that word?' And that's not a great place to create from. And it makes you kind of draw back. And maybe I don't have the confidence that I want or the space to experiment like I used to."

As for how he copes with it, the "Hey Ya!" hitmaker said he's still figuring it out. "In my own self, I'm trying to figure out where do I sit," he shared. "I don't even know what I am and maybe I'm nothing. Maybe I'm not supposed to be anything. Maybe my history is kind of handicapping in a way. And so I'm just trying to find out what makes me feel the best right now."

These days, Andre said he's drawn to instrumental music as opposed to writing raps. "And what makes me feel the best is when I just do these random kind of instrumental kind of things," he explained. "They make me feel the most rebellious. I don't like to go with the flow really. I don't know why, but I just feel best when I don't. So, I have to honor that. I have to honor that in a way."

Andre last released new songs in May 2018, when he dropped "Me&My (To Bury Your Parents)" and "Look Ma No Hands" on Soundcloud in honor of Mother's Day. "Look Ma No Hands" is a 17-minute jazz instrumental which also features singer James Blake on piano, and was recorded in late 2017. Meanwhile, "Me&My" was written prior to losing his mum and dad in 2013 and 2014, respectively, but was only recorded in 2015.

He's also featured on Anderson .Paak's "Come Home" off the latter's 2019 album "Venture" and in a guest verse on "Where's the Catch" from James Blake's album "Assume Form".