It’s safe to predict no other flautist’s tour will garner as much attention as the one just announced for Northrop Auditorium in October. That’s probably not saying a lot, though.

One of hip-hop’s most beloved hitmakers, André 3000 of OutKast, will bring his New Blue Sun Live tour to the University of Minnesota’s performance hall on Oct. 19. The show will showcase the rapper’s much-publicized conversion to new age-y flute music.

Per the promotional materials for the tour: “New Blue Sun Live is more than a concert; it’s a sonic odyssey that leaves fans both enchanted and reflective; reaffirming André 3000′s status as a visionary in contemporary music.”

Known for the enduring, Polaroid-shaking 2003 megahit “Hey Ya!” as well as other infectious OutKast gems like “Ms. Jackson” and “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad),” André Benjamin has not performed in the Twin Cities in over two decades.

He and his childhood pal Big Boi skipped Minnesota on their last OutKast tour in 2014 and have been on hiatus since then. Big Boi has continued to regularly record and perform as a rapper, including a headlining appearance last summer at Taste of Minnesota. André, however, has mostly pursued acting, including a co-starring role alongside Will Ferrell in “Semi-Pro” and a lead role as Jimi Hendrix in the film “Jimi: All is By My Side.”

For the Northrop show, the 49-year-old Atlanta native will be joined by his “New Blue Sun” co-producer Carlos Niño and three other musicians playing tunes from the spacey and mellow collection. They’ve been playing tunes off the record — and nothing more — in concert since March, including such rolling-off-the-tongue titles as “That Night in Hawaii When I Turned into a Panther and Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control … [Expletive] Was Wild” and “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.”

Tickets for the Northrop show go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via tickets.umn.edu, priced $50-$230. Options for seats include a VIP package with a pre-show Q&A.

Celebrities often deal with unruly fans at their concerts, so it’s not the first time Wallen has had something thrown at him. Last year, an irritated fan chucked a boot at the country singer as they waited for him to sign an autograph. Instead of signing it, he turned to throw it away from where it came from.

I Had Some Help recently enjoyed five undisrupted weeks at the top of the charts, allowing the Cowgirls singer to take the crown for the most weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in the 2020s from Taylor Swift.

Wallen is currently in the North American leg of his One Night at a Time World Tour, performing at stadiums around the globe. He’ll be performing at shows across the US until August 9, before jetting off to Europe for a slew of more shows from August 28.

Many of Wallen’s North American concerts had to be cancelled and rescheduled last year after the singer needed to treat vocal fold trauma, which the National Institute of Health explains is “caused by excessive or improper use of the voice”.

He was able to return to the stage a month later after being given the all-clear by his doctors.

On April 7, Wallen was arrested on three felony counts after he allegedly threw a chair off the bar roof of a six-storey building in Nashville.

A group of police officers were on the ground outside the building when the chair landed about 1 metre away from them. They entered the building and went up to Nashville’s Chiefs Bar, and staff identified Wallen as responsible for throwing the chair.

Later that month, the country singer addressed concerned fans by sharing a statement accepting fault for the incident on X.

“I didn’t feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks. I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility,” Wallen wrote.

“I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe. Regarding my tour, there will be no change.”

Despite his apology, Wallen’s arrest has landed him in hot water with the Nashville Metro Council. In a 30-3 vote last month, Nashville council members rejected an application to install a billboard sign atop Wallen’s under-construction This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen in central Nashville, reported People.

Explaining her decision, Councilwoman at Large Delishia Porterfield pointed to the singer’s controversial past.

“We want to make sure that Nashville was a supportive place for everyone, so I don’t want to see a billboard with the name of a person who’s throwing chairs off balconies and who is saying racial slurs, using the n-word, so I’m voting no,” Porterfield said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and other government officials celebrated moving forward with the city’s housing development plan, the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, on Tuesday.

The plan had been in a years-long court battle. Opposing organizations alleged that the city should have conducted an environmental review before approving the plan. 

The 2040 plan aims to establish more densely built and affordable housing for Minneapolis’ future development. 

“This is a day that has been six years in the making, in that when Minneapolis recognized that we had an affordable housing shortage, we recognize that we like so many other cities throughout the country needed to increase our supply of housing. The 2040 plan helped us get there,” Frey said.

Legislation in the 2024 session clarified the bill, allowing for stalled housing projects to begin again. 

“Our legislative intent was very clear that this was a bill to end this lawsuit and to defend the Minneapolis 2040 plan,” said Rep. Sydney Jordan, DFL-Minneapolis. “We believe in this plan. We took huge steps this year to defend it and we will continue to do so as necessary.” 

Jack Perry, the attorney for opposing groups like Smart Growth Minneapolis and Minnesota Citizens for the Protection of Migratory Birds, said their fight is far from over. They filed an appeal with the Supreme Court. 

“Almost every project is financed and it is pretty hard to finance something when the authority is based upon a 2040 plan that is tied up in litigation,” Perry said. “The mayor says they’re going forward. That’s all fine but the actual developers will have to worry about this litigation. He may not because it’s not his pocketbook that’s being opened up to build things based upon a foundation of a plan that is highly suspect.”

The press conference celebrating the 2040 plan was held at Wakpada Apartments, a new complex that’s a product of the 2040 plan.

One of the apartment’s developers, Sean Sweeney, said the 2040 plan has allowed him to be creative and “do things that benefit the community.”

“I’ve worked in several markets around the country, and I can say without a doubt that being a developer in Minneapolis, especially now with the 2040 plan, is an absolute dream,” Sweeney said. 

The plan began in 2018. Since then, Minneapolis has invested over $360 million into affordable rental housing and homeownership programs.

“Minneapolis is being seen around the country as a leader in the affordable housing space, we’re seen as a leader in this push to desegregate cities. And we’re seen as a municipality to copy and to replicate in the work that we’re having right now,” Frey said.