Listed as one of the best rappers of 2000, Andre Lauren Benjamin, better known as Andre' 3000 or Andre' Three Stacks, is a father, songwriter, actor and even an entrepreneur. He started a clothing line in 2008 called Bixby. Even though the 45-year-old is far from old, he's had the pleasure of experiencing a lot and is known as a trendsetter in many different arenas.
"I know, just being a human being, that we're all really just human beings and kinda acting on stuff that we just tried to do from high school," explains Andre. "So we all know that. It's like we just messing around and trying to make something cool.
"You look forward 20 years later, and people are, you know, talking about it in a certain kind of way. It's just — it's actually fun because I'm actually standing outside of it, looking at it, looking at other people talk about it. Cause I'm outside of it too now. Because when we were doing it, we were in it. You wasn't worried about, you know, what people were talking about in that way. You just kind of having fun. You in the studio and your whole focus is doing this music. So when it's years later, it's kinda like you're kinda removed from it, and kinda stepping outside of yourself looking at it. So it does feel kinda weird, like talking about a third person."
"But I do understand it because I'm a fan of music, so I look at others in the same way."
"I remember, at like 25, saying, 'I don’t want to be a 40-year-old rapper.' I’m still standing by that. I’m such a fan that I don’t want to infiltrate it with old blood."
On Growing Up In Atlanta
Growing up, mentor was not a word I knew. I didn't know that word until five or six years ago. The way I explained the word to my kid is like this. I said: "Son, adults are really cool and I'll tell you why. Because you can compare them to a video game. If you played that video game for the last two years and you're proficient at it and I just jump on the game, you're quickly going to say: 'Hey, Dad, the trap is right there. When you get over there, you have to go, hop hop hop hop hop.' Now, if you didn't say that, it might take me a year to figure that out. So a mentor is: I've done this, so I'm helping you get past that place."
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On Why He Stopped Being Vegan
I was a hardcore vegan for fifteen years. I've even done raw. But socially it became horrible. I was kind of just sitting at home eating a salad. You become mean. That's not good for you.
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On Getting Along
The stupidest argument to have with somebody is when you tell them what to like. How can somebody argue with you about what you like? "I want hot sauce." "Hot sauce? How can you like hot sauce?" Hey, it's my mouth.
On Prince
The person who most impressed me? Prince. Michael Jackson was great. But Prince is heavy. When I say heavy, I mean...
...encompassing an entire world instead of one feeling. Heavy is when someone's gonna give you their whole life—make you cry and smile. It's sexual. It's a commentary on the world. It's coming from a rawer place.
On Sex
Sex is really like breathing or drinking a glass of water. We need to treat it as a normal thing.
On his favorite album
“Kid Cudi’s last album, Speedin’ Bullet is the best thing to come out in a long time,” he said, then continued with other newer artists he enjoys listening to. “[Young] Thug is charging up the rap game. Future is charging up the rap game. These are people I listen to.”
When asked about his son, Three Stacks revealed that he was doing his own rapping, and that he’s good at it. “He can actually rap, but he don’t want people to know that he can rap. But he’s good,” Dre said about Seven. “I told him to do it and don’t tell people. Just put it out. If people like it, they like it. You can reveal at any time.”
