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— by Shaheem Reid
We're going to have to call him Andre 180 now.
The admittedly spaced-out half of Outkast has taken his head out of the stars and changed his attitude. Back in 1994, on Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik's "Git Up, Git Out," Dre rapped, "Y'all tellin' me that I need to get out and vote, huh?/ Why? Ain't nobody black runnin' but crackers, so why I got to register?/ I'm thinkin' of better sh-- to do with my time." And even as late as 2003, around the time the Kast released Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below, the world's best-dressed man still wasn't down with going to the polls.
Almost a year later, though, 3000 is a changed man. He's registered for the upcoming election, and every time we see him, he's encouraging his fellow Americans to follow suit. Dre has become so passionate that he's currently shooting a documentary on youth and voting, which will come out a little before Election Day, and has signed on as a spokesperson for Declare Yourself, an organization set up to get people registered.
"If you don't vote, you're pretty much giving up your power," Dre advises. "You're pretty much saying, 'Do what you will with me.' "
So why the change of heart? We caught up with Dre in his New York hotel one day before he went to the RNC to watch President Bush speak, and the poetic performer chalked it up to being swayed in part by the man behind such 1970s TV shows as "All in the Family," "Maude" and "The Jeffersons."
MTV: So with all that you have going on — winning awards, shooting a movie, recording an album, clothes shopping — why even take time out to get involved in this voting situation?
Andre 3000: Honestly, what got me involved — 'cause I'm not really political at all — was [TV producer] Norman Lear contacted my acting agent. I really didn't know the name, I didn't know "Good Times" and all this production history. My people were like, "You would want to meet with this guy." So I sit down and meet with him. He said, "I'm doing this campaign and getting the youth to vote. My kids tell me if I need the young people, I should come to you because people respect what you do. We want you to head up this campaign to get young people to vote."
MTV: That's a real big dog. Did you jump at the offer?
Andre: I said, "I really appreciate it, but I don't know if I'm the ideal person for your campaign." I was 28 at the time and I've never voted. He said, "That's perfect. You are the guy, because we're trying to get people that don't vote." At the same time, Donovan Leitch, who's been doing a series of voting documentaries, contacted me and said, "We want you to host our next documentary." It was all coming at one time. Then on top of that, the importance of voting this year ... it's so much hoopla around the election. Those three things pulled it all together for me.
MTV: So for somebody who never cared to vote before, what's been the most enlightening thing for you during this whole process?
Andre: Once I started doing the documentary, I was doing a lot of interviews, talking to older people, talking to different delegates, and they were saying how these older people fought for us — especially African-Americans — for the right to vote. Now you have kids who don't even exercise the right, so it's almost disrespectful in a way. They spent all this time dying, getting shot at, sprayed, hurt, for you to vote and you just all say, "All I want to do is ball."
I challenge anybody that's a hip-hop artist who's on the record talking about what's going on in the street and the community: If you haven't voted, you have no right to complain at all. It's crazy 'cause I've [talked] in some of my rhymes about not voting and the importance of not voting. I have to retract those statements. I'm man enough to do it. I was younger, going through my rebel stage — I still have some of that in my blood — but you gotta be smart about it.
MTV: What about Big Boi? I see him speaking out alongside you at the different award shows and other public functions about the importance of voting. Was he always down with the cause, or did you have to reel him in?
Andre: Big Boi, honestly, he doesn't say it a lot, but he's always with the current events and what's going on. I'm always the one that never pays attention. This is nothing new for Big Boi, he's always been involved.
MTV: The conventions, man — you went to Boston for the Democratic National Convention and you're out here in NYC for the Republican National Convention. A lot of us will never experience going to just one of those. What are they like?
Andre: Because I'm an entertainer, I know performance, I know showmanship, I know how to market certain things. I see a lot of that going on at these conventions. It's almost like a big concert, a big show; a lot of MCs going on one after each other, saying their rhymes, saying their punch lines, saying their key points, doing the little gestures and hand movements and getting the crowd amped. It's pretty much the same thing [as in rap]. They're selling something. They're trying to say, "Get on my team or get down with my crew." It is a big party. When they say "political parties," they really mean that. They have great parties after these speeches and these people with lots of money drink and get drunk like everybody else. They probably go to the hotel and have a good time. People write their speeches like people write their rhymes or songs. I wanna know who really writes their speeches. They're saying a lot of good stuff, but is it really coming from them? That's almost like learning that an MC don't write their own rhymes. That's a no-no.
MTV: What's the difference between both parties?
Andre: It's funny because I'm at the point where I'm undecided. In the documentary I'm asking people what's the difference between a Democrat and a Republican. Both parties have some cool things to say. I almost want a middle party, but there's not a middle party right now. I didn't use my celebrity to say, "I'm voting for this person and you should vote for this person too because I'm voting for this person." [You need to find out] what the platforms are, see what they're talking about, see if it speaks to you, your community. That's what it's all about. Everybody is not going to be 100 percent right, but what's most right for what's going on right now? I think that's important.
MTV: With so many people from the hip-hop community getting involved for the first time in the whole political arena, I think it's just a matter of time before we see somebody that's representing the culture throw their own hat in the ring for some type of office.
Andre: I see it really soon. You've got the governor of California, Mr. Terminator. You got Ronald Reagan. I think really soon you gonna see a person like a Bono. I think Sean "Puffy" Combs, he has something to stand on if he wanted to do it. When you can steer public opinion one way, that's power. Music is power. So I see it coming together one day where one musician is going to say, "Let me run. I have some things to say. Let me run." And a lot of people are going to follow them.
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Photo: Frank Miccettoi/Getty Images
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