Andre 3000 Talks Fatherhood, Prince’s Advice & Jimi Hendrix Film in New York Times Profile

Andre 3000 is having a great year so far. The excitement of this year's OutKast reunion tour and his portrayal of rock icon Jimi Hendrix in 'All Is By My Side' has put the reclusive rapper back in the spotlight.

In an interview with the New York Times, Three Stacks talks about a myriad of topics including parenting, Prince and playing the late rock guitarist in his new movie.

On OutKast's disappointing Coachella performance:

"Yeah, I think people could see it at Coachella, the very first show. It was foreign. My head wasn’t there. I kind of fluffed through rehearsals. A few hours before the Coachella show, I get a message that Prince and Paul McCartney are going to be there. My spirit is not right, and idols are standing side-stage, so as the show started, I’m bummed. This is horrible. In my mind I was already gone to my hotel room halfway through."

On Prince giving him advice on performing onstage:

"So Prince called a couple days after [Coachella performance]. It was my first time actually talking to Prince. He said: "'When you come back, people want to be wowed. And what’s the best way to wow people? Just give them the hits.'"

"He broke it down like this: 'You’re a grown man. You’re either going to do it or you’re not.’"

On being a father to his 16-year-old son Seven:

"Seven’s been going to school in Atlanta for the last two years. I wake up every morning, take him to school, pick him up from school, going to soccer games, going to wrestling matches. Total dad, which is cool, because so much of that was taken by my early OutKast years. We were at the height, so a lot of the time that should have been [spent] with him, I’m on the road entertaining everybody else."

On portraying Jimi Hendrix in the biopic 'All Is By My Side':

"I may have said it to [the director] John [Ridley]: 'Man, I’m old. I have gray hair. Get some young unknown kid to play Hendrix.' I turned it down. They kept at it. I actually asked my son, [Seven]. He said, 'Yeah, man.' Honestly, I needed it in my life, too. Hendrix kind of saved me. I was in a not-so-great space, just in a dark place every day. I needed something to focus on to get me out of my depression and rut. Sometimes, when you’re alone, you can let yourself go. I knew if I got on a train with a lot of different people, then I couldn’t let them down."

On retiring from rap:

"I remember, at like 25, saying, 'I don’t want to be a 40-year-old rapper.' I’m 39 now, and I’m still standing by that. I’m such a fan that I don’t want to infiltrate it with old blood."

"It’s hard to say. [Laughs.] I’m just going to call it honest. I know this may sound morbid, but I was like, if I were to die today, I have all these half-songs on my hard drive, and I don’t want that."

Read the entire NYTimes interview here.