André 3000 stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Wednesday night to perform “That Night in Hawaii When I Turned into a Panther and Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control … Sh¥t Was Wild” from his recently-released debut album, New Blue Sun.
Prior to the performance, André spoke to Colbert about the circumstances that led him to record an instrumental jazz album. In explaining his love for the flute, André said that the instrument is “the closest thing to singing… you’re actually hearing a human’s wind.”
Introducing his performance of “That Night in Hawaii When I Turned into a Panther…,” André explained that the song was inspired by real-life events: specifically, when he attended a ceremony in Hawaii, took ayahuasca, and “turned into a panther.”
Earlier this week, André announced the “New Blue Sun Live” tour. The dates kick off next week in Brooklyn, after which he’ll head to Manhattan, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Check out the full list of upcoming dates, and grab your tickets here.
New Blue Sun landed at No. 47 on our round-up of the 50 best albums of 2023.