James Blake and André 3000 are sitting on months worth of unreleased music
When quizzed if we’ll ever get to hear these tracks, Blake tells the Broken record podcast: “I hope so.”
Images: Getty / Left: Steve Jennings / Right: Tomasso Boddi
James Blake has revealed he spent months working with rapper André 3000 on new music, but there’s a chance that none of it will be released.
Blake, revealing the news on the Broken Record podcast, tells host Leah Rose about working with the Outkast member, referring to the 48-year-old as a “living icon”.
Although the pair did release the collaborative track Where’s the Catch for Blake’s 2019 album, Assume Form, “they did months” in the studio, he says. However, André recently told the same podcast that he plans to release no new music in the future.
“It sounds like you have a lot of music that hasn’t been released yet.” Rose says. “Yeah,” Blake responds plainly. When asked if fans will be able to hear any of the music, he says, “I hope so.”
“My god, you’re dealing with a living icon.” Blake praises André. “It’s almost surprising to hear something new come from that person because you’re so used to the songs that exist, it seems impossible that they can be created. It feels like they were just divinely put somewhere and you found them like precious metals.
He goes on to say how lucky he feels to work with so many amazing musicians, but “in this case with André, he just had to pinch myself a bit.”
Also in the podcast episode, Blake, whose seventh album Playing Robots into Heaven, is set to be released in September, talks about working with Def Jam founder and revered producer, Rick Rubin.
Rubin taught Blake to “remember what it is that you have the most unique perspective on”, he says, and while many might criticise his hands-off approach, Rubin’s “big picture” perspective is invaluable.
On helping artists as a producer himself, he adds that “producers are supposed to change your life”.
“The most successful sessions with people I’ve ever had, I’ve enabled them to look at a song in a certain way or be confident in a way that they previously didn’t back because people were telling them ‘it’s not this, it’s not that’.”
“What I do in the studio is encourage them to be them. That’s something that people in the mainstream don’t often hear – there’s more reason to play it safe.”
Check out the latest single, Loading, from James Blake’s forthcoming album via YouTube. Find more episodes of the Broken Record podcast via pushkin.fm.
