BEST OF 2025: Join us for our traditional look back at the news and features that topped MusicRadar’s charts in 2025.
We can’t fully explain why André 3000 rocked up at this year’s Met Gala with a grand piano strapped to his back – how could it ever make sense? – but it turns out that there was a reason. To coincide with the fashion spectacular, the star released 7 piano sketches, a brief collection of improvised piano jams.
This marked 3000’s first release since 2023’s New Blue Sun, the jazzy instrumental wind album that was nominated for three Grammy Awards. The roots of 7 piano sketches go back almost a decade, though, when André was staying in a house in Texas with his son that contained only a piano, their beds and TV screens.
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Having lived with the recordings he made in the house – possibly on his phone, based on their quality – André decided that spring 2025 (“a time of year that promises that life, creativity, and possibility are ever-renewing”) was the moment to release them.
Discussing the project, André said: “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.’”
André 3000 – when you’re a ant… (Official Audio) – YouTube
The 7 sketches have the strong whiff of off-the-cuff noodlings, with only one – album closer i spend all day waiting for the night – having drums on it. There’s also a nod to New Blue Sun’s love of long song titles: track 3 is called ‘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’.
We’ve all been there.
It’s all a long way from Outkast, the rap outfit that André 3000 made his name in alongside BigBoi and who were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2025.