Most Anticipated Albums of 2009 # 2

Andre 3000, TBD

Leads: “Green Light” “Art of Story Tellin’ 4”

Quotable: I hate to see y’all frown but I’d rather see her smiling

Wetness all around me, true, but I’m no island

Peninsula maybe, makes no sense I know, crazy…

If Lil Wayne is a Martian then what the hell is Andre 3000? Looking at what’s been popping over the last year or so it’s hard to ignore the return of Andre Benjamin to the mic. Reversing the trend of rappers wanting to sing, Outkast’s Andre Benjamin has spent the last year or so patiently reminding us that he is a damn good MC, one of the best alive right now. After taking a hiatus to serenade us on The Love Below, he started dropping guest verses in 2007 appearing on various cuts including “Walk It Out,” “Throw Some D’s,” “You,” Jay-Z’s “30 Something,” UGK’s “International Players Anthem,”and DJ Drama’s “Art of Storytelling 4.”

But what can we expect from a full length CD? Potentially, one of the best hip-hop albums since The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. With the ears of the music buying audience tenderized on Autotune vocals for most of 2008, Andre’s falsetto will be a welcome complement to his already celebrated lyrics. Very little is known about who will be producing but sonically, the multi-instrumentalist has always gone against the grain and given us some of the most lush and well-produced songs on the radio. The x-factor of course is that Andre actually WANTS to rap again, which typically makes all the difference with artists of his caliber. Maybe sitting on those acting checks and watching Lil Wayne make a killing with his whole swagger has given him the motivation to get back and give the people what they’ve been begging for.

At press time there was no working title for this project but if it comes out this year we’ll just call it a classic.

“International Playa’s Anthem”