In a recent interview, André 3000 revealed that his Grammy-nominated album, New Blue Sun, will not count towards his contract with Epic Records.

Andre 3000 released New Blue Sun, his first ever solo album since Outkast, in November of 2023. The flute-forward new-age album was met with much fanfare and critical acclaim and received several nominations for the upcoming 2025 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.

However, in a conversation on Touré Show, the rapper/singer/flutist stated that, in spite of the album's success, a certain clause in his contract with Epic means that New Blue Sun won't actually count towards his deal.

André elaborated:

"It’s something where it says, ‘The next recording has to be 90 percent like the recording before it.’ It’s in everybody’s deal, they don’t know it ’cause most people are not doing this kind of thing. It stops you from turning in 10 tracks of handclaps and saying, ‘This is my album.’"

It appears as though Epic Records decided that New Blue Sun was too much of a deviation from what they expected from André when they initially signed him. This gave them the right to say that the album will not count towards their contract.

Although he initially tried to find a way around this, André 3000 has since come to understand why the label made this decision and insisted that he is in no rush to get out of his contract with Epic. He does, however, think that this information may be useful for other aspiring label signees:

"I'm not stressed about it... but I think it's interesting news that artists should hear: that this album is not counting."

Other topics during this interview included touring, future music, and the potential of an Outkast reunion. You can check out the full episode here: