André 3000 Recalls Near-Death Experience

André 3000 may not be alive if it wasn’t for a stranger with a “suitcase”-sized cell phone.

The OutKast legend was involved in a nearly fatal car accident when he was a kid in Atlanta. The near-death experience landed him in the hospital, something he recalls in journalist Mike Ayers’ upcoming book One Last Song.

“When I was younger, me and my friend were in a car accident. We were riding with my friend’s mom, but we were so young, we didn’t know what happened until we woke up in the hospital. I didn’t know. I was a kid,” said André, according to HipHopDX.

But thanks to a man with an unusually large cell phone, he was able to call for help. “Fortunately, we were on this street in Atlanta and it was a non-busy street. And fortunately this guy who had money passed by–and he had one of the first working cell phones. It was like a suitcase. And he was able to call an ambulance,” he revealed.

If it wasn’t for that stranger, he might not be here today. “If we didn’t have that cell phone, we would have been out there for a minute — and might have died. Who knows. I don’t know if that’s a near-death experience. But I was definitely lucky.”

He made the revelation while reflecting on the significance of Prince’s 1985 classic “Sometimes It Snows in April” and how it relates to his life, including the unexpected deaths of his mother and stepfather. The song is so important to him that he wants it to be the last song he hears before he dies, which is the premise of Ayers’ book.

“When I was younger, I heard ‘Sometimes It Snows in April’ by Prince. That was always a song that summed up what it is,” said André. “Usually, when someone dies, unless they die of old age or sickness–it happens in a strange way. Both of my parents are gone and they both died early. Just out of the blue, when I least expected it.”

He added, “Even the lyrics ‘Sometimes it snows in April’ is kind of like … it’s not the time it’s supposed to snow. So it means something really serious happened when it wasn’t expected. The mood of the song always clicked in that sort of way. I never knew what Prince was talking about, but it sounded like he was talking about a life.”