André 3000 Wore a Grand Piano to the Met Gala—And Dropped a Surprise EP
- BY ELLE NKOSI
- May 6
- 2 min read
Updated: May 8
It wouldn’t be the Met Gala without a little drama—and leave it to André 3000 to give us a moment no one saw coming. Dressed in a midnight navy jumpsuit embroidered with umbrellas and carrying a literal grand piano on his back, the artist formerly known as the quietest man in fashion made the loudest statement on the red carpet. This was not just a look—it was a performance, a wink, a memory carved into Met Gala history.
The theme? Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. The statement? As André put it, “your own exclamation point on fashion.” And his? A custom Burberry x Benji Bixby ensemble co-designed with image architect Law Roach and Burberry’s creative director Daniel Lee. Oh—and a surprise drop of 7 piano sketches, an experimental EP made up of dreamy, lo-fi piano improvisations recorded over the span of more than a decade. Fashion’s biggest night met music’s softest flex.
While some stars interpret the Met Gala theme with diamonds and drama, André turned inward. The EP is intimate—seven sparse, atmospheric tracks laced with voice notes from choreographer Fatima Robinson, a sound engineer, and André himself. It’s not music to dance to. It’s music to think to, to feel to. The piano he wore? A physical metaphor for the weight of memory, artistry, and Black creative legacy.
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Backstage, it was a masterclass in detail. The jumpsuit’s embroidery came from André’s own sketches. The piano was custom-fabricated to be wearable yet dramatic. And the process? A blur of Paris fittings, nostalgic voice memos, and studio dives into hard drives filled with musical fragments once emailed to his son, Erykah Badu, or Tyler, the Creator. “When I listened back to 'em, I was like, this is pretty interesting,” André told Vogue. “I think it’s a cool piece of music that people might want to have in their arsenal.”
André has always done fashion his way—jaunty boater hats in 2008, radical jumpsuits on OutKast tours, and now, couture with keys. “It wasn’t about checking dandy boxes,” he said. “My understanding of dandyism is your own personal outburst in fashion.”
He gave us that outburst. Quiet, grand, and unforgettable.
