André 3000 has kept prolificacy as of late. He's reunited with Outkast and done a tour celebrating 20 years since their debut release. Now, the ever-so-cool Mr. 3000 performs under his real name, André Benjamin, and maybe one you've heard before: Jimi Hendrix, in a new biopic, Jimi: All Is By My Side.
In a recent walk-and-talk with actor Jaime Olaya, the idea of André 3000 donning the Hendrix persona seemed almost like a perfect piece to a perplexing puzzle. Not simply juxtaposed with style (as they both dress accordingly to their respective genre) but the movements, and even breath, from Benjamin exudes something in the vein of Jimi.
Hendrix captivated audiences with unparalleled guitar playing, even warranting a famous utterance from guitar god himself Eric Clapton (who said, after watching Hendrix, that he had given up on playing).
And after Hendrix, the group OutKast (consisting of André and his partner Big Boi) found themselves under the belly of bad reception. The initial project didn't come clean to hip hop purists on the coasts, but Dré and Big Boi knew the future of music (not singularly trained on hip hop/rap) and found a way to carve out their own niche.
Thus, after a foray into the ever-changing world of R 'n B and hip hop, Mr. 3000 took a step back to examine himself and the landscape in front of him, what was to come of this fuel? A reserved artist, he is, but there's a soul in André, and who knows where it came from, or if it's even his.
"I wanted André for the role, beyond the music, because of where he was psychologically - his curiosity about the world was a lot like Jimi," said John Ridley, writer and director for Jimi, who also wrote the screenplay for 12 Years a Slave.
In an interview with The New York Times, André 3000 talks life and politics, where he's going and what's to come from Jimi. Check it out on the site and be on the up for the latest Hendrix biopic, set to drop September 26.
