Andre 3000's "Vibrate" Is An Entrancing Six-Minute Mantra
While there is fierce demand for an Andre 3000 solo album, it's important to not overlook the fact that he provided such a wonderful spectrum of sound on The Love Below that could keep us satiated until whenever the awaited day of a new release arrives (if it ever does). Love Below remains an incredibly potent example of the worlds that can be opened up through the fusion of experimental jazz and hip hop. Andre's adventurousness on this project led to twenty tracks that all offer a different taste of what swirls around in his enigmatic mind.
The album closes with "A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre", a five-minute stream of consciousness that chronicles pivotal moments in Andre's life. It possesses an almost frantic feeling, as if he was holding on to all of these stories that he had to unload before time ran up. The result of this cramming is a super dense song, which wouldn't be as easy to bear if it weren't preceded in the tracklist by the airiness of "Vibrate". For those who don't know this fun fact, the beat for "Vibrate" was birthed by Andre reversing another Love Below track, "She Lives In My Lap". This reversal furnished the nearly seven-minute song with the relentless sunction-y sound that serves as its backbone - which would probably get annoying if it weren't for the piano, harmonica and vocals dancing all over it. Andre sings the chorus many times and it becomes increasingly comforting with every repetition. Partially an ode to masturbation, it celebrates the power we all have to satisfy our own desires.
Quotable Lyrics
Every boy and girl, woman to man
When you feel you've done about the best you can
Motherfuck the wagon, come join the band
Vibrate, vibrate higher