André 3000: Sorry, no new OutKast music in the works

Hip-hop heads patiently awaiting that OutKast reunion will (surprise) have to wait even longer, as André 3000, one half of the Atlanta duo, says the pair have no new music in the works.

"There's been a lot of talk on the Internet about an OutKast album and I have to say that as of now, there are no plans for another OutKast album," the rapper-actor recently told GQ.

“There's a lot of music on the horizon. I've been living off the excitement of new artists. I've been privileged to have these new artists kind of reach out and grab back and say, 'Hey, André, we want you on this song.' So I've been taking those calls and for the last two years, I've been doing collaborations," he continued. "So these new artists have kind of been keeping me alive. I've just really been feeding off of that, and this year I think I'm planning to do a solo project. I don't know when it will come out, but hopefully it'll come out this year. As far as OutKast, I really don't know if or when that will happen."

It’s been nearly six years since the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning group he co-founded with Antwan "Big Boi" Patton, released an album (2006's soundtrack "Idlewild”), despite teasing fans with more than a few false starts over recent years.

Though Patton earned critical acclaim from his 2010 solo debut, "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty," the man born André Benjamin has largely spent his free time popping up on guest verses to songs from Beyoncé, Kesha, Lil Wayne, Drake and B.o.B. He's also featured in a Gillette commercial along with other manly eye candy known for their style and facial hair.

Before OutKast made the move to Epic Records after the RCA Music Group was restructured, Patton revealed that their previous label, Jive (which was shuttered along with Arista and J Records), wouldn’t allow the tracks that featured vocals from Benjamin -- “Lookin’ 4 Ya” and “Royal Flush” -- to be featured on the record.

“They wouldn’t let me put it on the album. But somehow it ended up on the Internet. I was happy, the fans wanted some new music. It’s like a music fairy somewhere that’s on the sides of the fans, [the tracks were] mixed and everything,” he laughed. “The only thing I would have changed [about ‘Sir Lucious’] was if I could have put 'Royal Flush' and 'Lookin’ 4 Ya' on the record. But they can be downloaded on the Internet for free.”

When we quizzed Patton on whether their long-awaited return would happen after his next solo record -- part of a three-album deal he inked with Def Jam -- he laughed it off and offered a cryptic hint of, “Something like that.”

Benjamin’s lone solo offering is his half of OutKast's game-changing "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" project, and he is mum on what his official solo record will sound like.

“The only thing I can really say [about the solo album] is I'm going to get back to having fun because that's what it was all about when I started this in high school — with OutKast — those were like high school dreams,” he later said in the interview. “I'm 36 now, so I have grown-man dreams. This album will just be me being myself as normal.”

RELATED:

L.A. Reid officially named chairman and CEO of Epic Records

Big Boi unfazed by Grammy snub, ready to deliver more solo hits [Video]

Big Boi talks Kate Bush, Chico Dusty, 'Rap Jedi School' and the timeline for a new OutKast album

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Photo: André 3000, left, and Big Boi have made six platinum albums as OutKast. Credit: Richard Hartog / Los Angeles Times