André 3000 has recalled the time he “turned into a panther” during an ayahuasca trip in Hawaii.
The OutKast musician has a song called “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” on his upcoming solo album New Blue Sun, due out this Friday (November 17).
During a recent interview with NPR, 3 Stacks shared the bugged-out story behind the title, which involved a three-day high on the plant-based psychedelic.
“I was actually in Hawaii and it was my second night of the first time I’d ever taken ayahuasca,” André 3000 began. “We did it like a three-night kind of phase. The first night was inviting and beautiful and the most powerful love and connection with all things I’ve ever felt in my life.
“The second night was different and everybody knows that aya will do you that way. The second night my stomach was hurting, my mouth contorted like a panther and I actually turned into a panther. And I was doing like, ‘GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR’ — like, that kind of thing.
“I actually turned into a panther. It was doing this thing called toning. Toning is another way of purging. And toning is where you make these vibrational noises that you can’t control. It started playing me like an instrument. I started as a panther and then it would make me do these long kind of tones and started changing the notes.”
André 3000 went on to explain that he used the purring sound he was making as inspiration for his new project.
“So, on the album I’m mimicking [it], but the funny thing in the aya session, I was like, ‘Damn, I wish I had my phone so I can record this ’cause, like, it’d be so dope,’” he said.
“I’m witnessing it and I’m watching it and it holds you for so long. I’m like, ‘Where’s this breath coming from?’ And then you end off and you go and do it again. And I’m like, ‘Whoa, what is happening right now?’ So that’s what I’m talking about in that title.”
He added: “It was kind of intriguing at the time because, the sound listener in me, I’m digging the sound. But at the same time, the shaman is coming over and he’s fanning me. And he’s saying, ‘Oh, that’s like 20 years of therapy happening right now.’
“I guess I had to get through that moment. But yeah, it was just interesting because my mouth actually shaped like a panther. Most aya sessions last about six hours. But it don’t feel like six hours. It feels like maybe two or three.”
André 3000 admitted he was a “changed person” from the experience after previously being in a negative headspace.
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“I have to say, man, it is legit, you know? I won’t say it’s, like, a fix-all kind of thing, but at the time, when I went to do it, I was in a very, very low place,” he explained. “A friend of mine told me about it and he was like, ‘You got to check it out. Read this book first.’
“So I read about it before I went in, because I was like, ‘Man, y’all n-ggas just like to do drugs and I’m not into it like that.’ And it just so happened that I ran into a person that was going to Hawaii the next day. And I was like, ‘Well, why are you going to Hawaii?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to do this thing with the sham.’ So, usually, it comes to you when you need it.”
He continued: “So I would tell anybody, don’t let anybody force you into doing ayahuasca or nothing like that. You’ll know if you want to do it or when you need to do it because it calls you. And I know it sounds bigger than what it is, but it actually is bigger than what it is.
“But it’s so natural. The plants have been here way before we were human. So it’s like you’re having a conversation with your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers.”
