Anyone can make an appeal to someone they love, but there is only one André 3000.

Anderson .Paak's “Come Home” is the opening track on his 2019 album, Ventura, and a desperate plea made to André 3000 by fans the world over.

André’s lyrical flexing is the blue of the “Come Home” flame, and, as always, he doesn’t sacrifice his inclination for storytelling in order to maintain his technicality.

This can be seen in the following break down of the verse:

Some takeaways from André's "Come Home" verse above:

The verse is 20 bars long and contains 252 words

167 of those 252 words are unique, or 66.3%

182 of those 252 words contain significant rhymes, or 72.2%

With 228 significant rhymes in total, André averages 11.4 rhymes per bar

To convey his plea, André creates a motif. In this context, a motif is an important recurring idea or musical fragment, and his multis are the everchanging motif of the verse.

He establishes his initial motif in the opening couplet, beginning his verse with a recurring three syllable motif:

This is impressive, to be sure, but the verse becomes increasingly technical as it unravels. Another striking element of the verse’s composition is the way André incorporates one multi into the next, as he does for part of lines 12 and 13:

André maintains a four syllable motif thrice over before unexpectedly tacking on the word "man," and consequently rendering the last syllable of one motif (which was "Tub") an integral part of the next.

With his once linear narrative now fragmented due to desperation, André is able to construct his most masterful motif on “Come Home” for the tail end of his verse.

The closing three lines are composed of four back-to-back multis per line, 12 in total. Bent and well are examples of assonance, stuff and stuck are examples of imperfect or “near” rhymes, and he pronounces Tilikum and ill-informed in a way that only he can by harnessing his skillset and southern twang.

Once he’s separated the three bars in multis, they look like this:

It goes without saying, but lyricism of this quality makes for a rewarding listening experience because, as listeners, we value skill and presentation.

Anyone can make an appeal to someone they love, but there is only one André 3000.