André 3000 has broken the record for the longest song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. According to Billboard, the average length of a charting song is three minutes and 15 seconds.
Plenty of songs on the chart have been much longer than that, though none have been as lengthy as André’s “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time.” The 12-minute and 20-second track appears on his new album, New Blue Sun.
Released earlier this month, the LP is André first solo album in 17 years. To the surprise of some fans, the project is entirely instrumental, without a single bar from the OutKast rapper, opting to spotlight his flute playing instead.
“I Swear…” charted at No. 90 on the Hot 100, Billboard reported. Prior to André, the record for the longest song to grace the Hot 100 was held by Tool’s 2019 single “Fear Inoculum” from their album of the same name.
Previously second, but now third, among the longest songs to chart on the Hot 100 is Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” at 10 minutes and 13 seconds.
