Source: Prince Williams / Getty
The legendary Anita Baker sent some Twitter love to Andre 3000 and everyone appreciated the positive vibes.
Andre recently opened up to GQ in a profile that touched on his talent, humility and introversion.
Anita sent these positive words in response to the Internet’s viral reaction to his interview: “Ur an artist we isolate S’times, become solitary & Yes, its true the Artistry of Others pull us out. I know. I understand. We’ll talk ABXO”
In the GQ shoot, Andre is seen in a hoody that reads: “I need A Baker!”
The queen came through in the clutch.
Hit the jump for highlights from the GQ profile and a link to full piece.
Below, Andre talks to GQ about feeling trapped, moving to NYC and hating the expectations that his son Seven faces as the child of two superstars.
Read the full piece here.
Do you find that people enable you more than they would if you were just a dude with a job?
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Yeah. Right now, the only people that keep me in line is my homies, like Swiff, the DJ. He’s like a super-, hyper-realist. He’s the kinda person that I can talk to. My stepfather is next in line. He’s kinda like that anchoring person. He’s been there since I was 5. He gave me my first job, actually, screen-printing shirts in his shop in Atlanta.
What were you doing for him?
Screen printing with the squeegees, and silk printing. He’s that next person in line. And once you don’t have that around, you can easily go astray, because, I mean, since age 17 people have catered to me and Big Boi. It’s strange when, your whole life, everyone has treated you different from everybody else. They say that if you’re an entertainer, whatever time you took off, you stay that age. I was 17. I wonder how my son feels. He was born into it, ’cause his parents are Erykah [Badu] and me. Even when people heard that we was having a kid, they was like, Oh, this kid is gonna be—
—a genie!
Before he even got here. I really hate it for him. You gotta understand, I’ve only written one check in my life. When I was 17, they still had checkbooks, and my mom taught me how to write a check and do my balance. So I had one check on my balance, and then OutKast took off. I have not paid a bill since. People ask, What does it feel like? As humans, we want attention. We want to be validated. At the same time, it’s strange attention, and a lot of it. If you have an excess of anything, it becomes strange.
Did you come to N.Y.C. to face that feeling down? In Atlanta, you’re in the bubble of your car.
Yeah, that was part of my reason for coming here. I was diagnosed with this social thing. I didn’t notice it until I became an entertainer. I don’t know if it’s the shock of all kind of people coming up to you, or the expectations, but I got to this place where it was hard for me to be in public without feeling watched or really nervous.
Trapped.
Yeah, and it started to bleed over into my normal life. I’d just meet new people and I would freak out or have to leave.
When did that start?
Maybe 15 years ago.
