Andre 3000 Claims He Doesn’t Remember His Iconic Source Awards Speech

Andre 3000 dropped several gems during his recent appearance on The Shop. He discussed taking hatred from others and using it to fuel creativity. He also talked about his experiments with jazz, and how it’s freed him up to do whatever he wants. The most fascinating revelation, though, was when the show’s other guest, Sexyy Red, asked about his iconic speech at the 1995 Source Awards. Andre 3000 reflected on the speech, before admitting that he doesn’t really remember what he said.

Sexyy Red was born in 1998, so she inquired about the intention of the speech during their Shop talk. Andre 3000 told the younger rapper that his memory of being onstage was hazy. “I don’t even remember the whole thing,” he admitted. What he did remember, however, was the sense of frustration he felt in the years leading up to the Source Awards. “N**gas hating on the South at that point,” he said. “I remember being really angry and driven because we’ve been creating this music, man. We’ve been in the Dungeon. And we just felt like, ‘Y’all don’t get it.'”

The reason why Andre 3000 struggles to remember his speech was because he was extremely nervous while giving it. “It was not planned,” he admitted. “It looked brave, but I was nervous as a motherf*cker. I was just angry, man.” Three Stacks, who was one half of Outkast at the time, felt that the South was not being afforded the same respect that New York was. Further adding to the frustration was the fact that both Andre and Big Boi were fans of the NY sound. “We love New York,” he said. “We grew up on all New York music, man. I just felt like, I don’t know, it just came out. And I just said that.”

Andre 3000’s speech has since been lionized by fans. It’s a classic moment in both Source and Southern hip-hop history. It was so prominent, in fact, that Outkast used audio from the speech on their 1998 song “Chonkyfire.” The phrase that Andre 3000 uttered towards the end of his speech has become a rallying cry of sorts for the entire South. They had something to say, and so did Three Stacks. Even if he doesn’t remember it clearly.