André 3000 Dropped a Piano Album to Go With His Piano Outfit

ABLUpdated 4 days Ago2 Mins read1

Where were you when André Benjamin, a.k.a. André 3000, wore a piano on his back at the Met Gala and carried a trash bag? The multi-hyphenate showed up on the blue carpet in custom Burberry in collaboration with his own menswear line, Benji Bixby, styled by none other than blond Law Roach, confirming his status as one of the most effortlessly cool people living and working right now. But the piano on his back wasn’t just an accessory he happened to throw on: Benjamin also dropped a surprise piano album last night to go along with his outfit. Titled 7 piano sketches, the album consists of, well, seven piano sketches that the artist had never intended to see the light of day.

“These piano pieces weren’t recorded with the intention of presenting them in any formal way to the public,” Benjamin wrote on Instagram. “They were personal, at home recordings. I would sometimes text them to my family and friends.” He recorded them all on an iPhone and a MacBook, and the melodies are inspired by a few of his favorite artists: “Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Philip Glass, Stephen Sondheim, Joni Mitchell and Vince Guaraldi.” The Guaraldi influence feels most apparent in these jazzy, sweet tracks.

Benjamin noted that these sketches predate his 2023 instrumental album, New Blue Sun, by about ten years. Like that album, 7 piano sketches has great titles such as “blueberry mansions” and “when you’re a ant and you wake up in an awesome mood, about to drive your son to school, only to discover that you left the lights on in the car last night so your battery is drained.” Totally. As a disclaimer, Benjamin also noted of the liner notes “WARNING: NO BARS,” adding, “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.” Well, for what might be one of the worst rap albums in history, the sketches are Benjamin’s most playful work yet: sultry, gentle, and loose. The opposite, basically, of what it might feel like to carry a piano on your back.