The Met Gala is famously an event in which the world judges the eccentric fashion choices of entertainment’s elite, and this year didn’t disappoint. While the mainstream fixated on the looks donned by the likes of Zendaya, Gigi Hadid and Rihanna, it was hard for us music fans not to notice André 3000 – who turned up to the event with a grand piano on his back.

To be fair, it was probably hard for anyone – music obsessive or not – to ignore such a getup.

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It turns out André’s outfit wasn’t totally random, though, as he’s just dropped a short collection of 7 improvised piano jams, dubbed, fittingly, 7 piano sketches.

And per MusicRadar, the record’s origins began nearly a decade ago, when André and his son were staying at a house in Texas containing nothing but beds, TV screens and a piano.

The album itself – if 16 minutes and 21 seconds qualifies as an album – possesses a certain off-kilter sound, and sounds as though it was recorded on a smartphone with minimal subsequent treatment. All tracks consist of piano improvisations, with the exception of the final song, i spend all day waiting for the night, which has lo-fi backing drums.

André 3000 says: “The original title for it was The Best Worst Rap Album In History, and here is an excerpt from the original liner notes: ‘It’s jokingly the worst rap album in history because there are no lyrics on it at all. It’s the best because it’s the free-est emotionally and best I’ve felt personally. It’s the best because it’s like a palette cleanser for me.’”

7 piano sketches follows André 3000’s 2023 album New Blue Sun. Last year, he expressed an interest in returning to his hip-hop roots, saying he’d “love” to make another rap album. “

“I just think it’d be an awesome challenge to do a fire-ass album at 48 years old,” he said. “That’s probably one of the hardest things to do! I would love to do that.”

Listen to 7 piano sketches below:

The post The greatest act of self-promotion ever? Why André 3000 turned up to the Met Gala with a grand piano on his back appeared first on MusicTech.