Watch André 3000’s speech at Berklee College of Music’s 2025 graduation
His address came just after receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the school.
Last month, Berklee College of Music announced that André 3000 would be awarded an Honorary Doctorate at the 2025 commencement on May 10, joining the ranks of such esteemed artists as Duke Ellington, Missy Elliot, Quincy Jones, Q-Tip, and many more. That ceremony took place over the weekend, and you can now watch video of his entire speech above.
André began his speech expressing a deep gratitude for being invited and an excitement for the students' future, even if by his own admission he may not share their technical knowledge. "If someone were to walk up to me right now, and say 'André, I'll give you two billion dollars if you can look at this keyboard and with only two seconds on the clock point to a key that would play the E-note,' I would not be able to."
Perhaps for that reason, as an artist whose first instruments were drum machines and samplers, André's tales of how he fell in love with his music offer a rare kind of insight. And as a music industry veteran, the speech isn't short on wisdom, either.
"People will talk about what you do, good and bad. You will feel good and bad. But none of it matters. Like once it's recorded, once you've done what you have to do, that's the work. Everything else is chatter and it does not matter, it doesn't contribute to what you're doing.
"So always keep your original reason for doing music, that original feeling that you got when you were a kid when you heard the song in the first place, always keep that original feeling."
