Although many hip-hop fans were not excited to hear that André 3000’s first album in 17 years did not include a verse from him, the project still broke records.
The track, I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time, from the album New Blue Sun is now credited as the lengthiest track to appear on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart. The song is 12 minutes and 20 seconds long, beating out Taylor Swift’s All Too Well (Taylor’s Version), which clocked in at 10 minutes and 13 seconds.
The song debuted at No. 90 on the Hot 100, as the LP peaked at No. 30 on the Billboard 200.
Producer Buckwild recently gave props to the eccentric OutKast member for outselling rappers who have been present on the music scene, such as Lil Wayne, Kodak Black, Westside Gun, Ice Spice, French Montana and more.
“@andre3000 first week sales reign supreme,” he wrote on Instagram with a list of rappers and their music sales. “Outselling mainstream rappers with an ambient flute album is such an André 3000 thing to do.”
André’s new album’s first week sales outsold artists like Lil Wayne, Kodak Black, Westside Gun, Ice Spice, French Montana and more.
During an interview with NPR he explained his choice in making this type of album.
“I don’t want to troll people. I don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, this André 3000 album is coming!’ And you play it and like, ‘Oh man, no verses’,” he started. “So even actually on the packaging, you’ll see it says, ‘Warning: no bars.’ It’s letting you know what it is off the top.”