André Benjamin - best known as André 3000 - is one of the most revered, celebrated artists of the last three decades, an auteur whose work in music, film, fine arts, fashion, and more continues to influence the cultural landscape on a global scale.  His work as one half of the iconic hip-hop duo Outkast, with Anton “Big Boi” Patton, established a brand new voice/style within rap that had never been experienced before. The 7x Grammy winning artist released his first solo album in 20 years this past November –New Blue Sun, a wind focused, instrumental album that represents the next step in André’s creative evolution. Released to widespread critical acclaim, New Blue Sun became the first instrumental album to land on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and the opening track "I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a 'Rap' Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time," broke the record for longest song to debut on the Billboard Hot 100. 

serpentwithfeet is simply letting the pendulum swing nowadays. The Baltimore, Maryland-born singer-songwriter, whose influences include Geoffrey Holder, Toni Morrison, Brandy, and Nina Simone, is taking the natural steps as a versatile talent from chapter to chapter in his career. serpent’s third album GRIP is the result of these latest steps. GRIP finds its home on the dance floor of Black gay clubs and the intimate moments that happen there and afterward, no matter the location.

GRIP and the Black gay club share an interesting juxtaposition: the club is public; the dance floor is obviously a place where people look at and watch one another. At the same time, the Black gay club is a safe community space, it is “for us', and in that way is very private, very intimate. These clubs provided a different atmosphere for serpent, a different comfort, and a different sense of welcoming that nurtured him in a new way. This atmosphere came alive in his dance theater production Heart Of Brick, a work that “explored the loss of queer Black nightlife spaces and the stories that surround them.”

Through all of his music, he allows compassion to be the backbone of his art, as he communes with his most loving self. In 2021, serpent released his sophomore album DEACON which enshrined the Black, queer love at its center as something blessedly uncomplicated and precious. The following year, he released a content series, serpent’s Parlor, which was accompanied by the smooth, propulsive single, “I’m Pressed.”