When an established artist does the unexpected, I am somewhere between curious and inspired. When it’s Andre 3000 eschewing raps for wind instruments, it’s a revelation. As one half of ATLiens OutKast, whose bombastic and kaleidoscopic albums went platinum many times over, he developed a reputation as one of the most ingenious lyricists in hip-hop.

Over the past few years, aside from show-stealing appearances on other people’s projects, he has cut a very different figure. The eternal wanderer walking the earth, content in his own solitude, occasionally re-emerging, usually dressed in dungarees and a beanie, to play a little flute in public. In a Starbucks, at the airport, in Philly, on a ferry … wherever. At this point, “Everyone has a Three Stacks story”, quipped Complex in 2019.

Part of me felt that this was misconstrued as a frivolous phase, going off the rails, an eccentric publicity stunt even. He’s just trying something new, right? Let the man live. But who thought we would see the arrival of his first solo album, New Blue Sun, with “Warning! No raps” emblazoned on the front? How many fans looked at the garrulous tracklist and thought, this has got to be a joke, right?