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André 3000's 12-minute, 20-second hit breaks record on Billboard 100

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Now let's listen to a little bit of history, the longest piece of music ever to hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It clocks in at 12 minutes and 20 seconds.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

It just entered the chart, and it's by Andre 3000. Normally he's half of the hip-hop duo OutKast, but on his new solo album, there are no words, just flute music. I'll let Andre's share the name of the piece.

ANDRE 3000: The title is "I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A 'Rap' Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time."

FADEL: Andre 3000 talked to NPR recently about his decision to ditch rapping and stick to flute. He says there's something freeing about that.

ANDRE 3000: It's funny. Like, some things, like, in society, you can't say out loud, especially now. You know, everybody's just kind of, like, really sensitive about things, but you can say them with an instrument.

FADEL: Sorry, we don't have time to play you all 12 minutes. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.