The return of Andre 3000; plus, 'Rap Sh!t' puts the music industry on blast

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2023

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As many male rappers seem to become more depressed or vindictive in their lyrics, the women of rap appear to be having all the fun. One show that captures this moment is Rap Sh!t on Max. Brittany sits down with the showrunner and writer, Syreeta Singleton. They discuss the complexities of navigating the rap game as a Black woman, the new social media landscape, and how rap and Rap Sh!t approach sexuality.

Then, a conversation with Andre 3000. After 17 years, the rapper, producer, and instrumentalist is back with a new album, New Blue Sun. Notably, this album has no rapping and focuses on the artists passion for the flute. In honor of the occasion, host Brittany Luse passes the mic to NPR colleague and host, Rodney Carmichael. In this excerpt of their hour long interview, Rodney and Andre retrace the artist's journey from rapper to flautist, the beauty of aging, and why there should be more celebration in death.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from NPR sponsor Shopify, the global commerce platform that helps you sell and show up exactly the way you want to. Customize your online store to your style. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash NPR.
0:17.0	Hey Hey I'm Brittany Loose and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show where I look at what's happening in culture, and why it doesn't happen by accident.
0:30.0	So a few weeks back, I made an offhand comment about how he who should not be named
0:34.8	aka Drake had devolved into this depressed mopey vindictive rap state and how I was officially done. A lot of you reached out saying you were done
0:46.1	too. Boy, bye. And drink isn't alone. We're going to get into this more in a minute, but gosh,
0:52.1	the boys and rap are sounding sad.
0:57.0	Meanwhile the girls in rap are killing it.
1:02.0	They're killing it so hard that finally the women are crashing the usually male-dominated
1:07.3	rap nominations for the Grammys. They have the beats, they have the hits and they have something to say.
1:16.0	I would like to address a certain incident that I'm sure is on everybody's mind.
1:20.0	No, I don't know why Papa tookaz took the honey sauce off the menu.
1:24.0	And how if you want the sauce bag, you need to take that up with the Popaz lady, not me, okay?
1:29.0	And my next guest, Serena Singleton and her her collaborator, Issa Ray, have been watching.
1:35.1	And they worked together to make the Max series,
1:37.6	which will call Rapp-ish.
1:41.0	The real name of this show has a word in it that I'll get fine for saying on the radio
1:45.0	rap is all about these two Miami girls Shauna and Mia who end up forming a
1:51.3	rap duel. Okay, Justin, Berkeley,
1:55.0	reduce,
1:57.0	It's loosely based on the success of the rap duo,
2:00.0	City Girls, two of my favorite rap girlies who are killing it right now.
2:05.1	Which excuse me, where is their Grammy?
	...

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