André 3000 has launched a brand new brief movie impressed by and set to the music of 7 Piano Sketches, his 2025 EP. The 12-minute video was written by André 3000 and Graham Mason, with the latter serving as its director. Within the movie, the musician walks throughout New York Metropolis with a life-sized piano strapped to his again and a pocket book of sketches in his hand whereas he runs into a variety of characters alongside the route. It’s obtainable to observe now, completely on Mubi.
In coordination with the brief movie’s launch, André 3000 sat down with Mubi for an interview through which he discusses being impressed by ants to hold the piano, how the fabricated instrument was constructed, and why they selected to shoot in New York Metropolis. When requested what he finds inspiring about ants particularly, he answered, “How they convey and relate to one another: their togetherness, the best way they work towards a aim. It’s simply intriguing to observe them. I’ll sit and watch hours of YouTube movies and nature documentaries about ants. There’s one thing so cool about the best way they work; they’re the most important staff on the planet. I’ve all the time felt like people may study rather a lot from ants.”
André 3000 additionally revealed that he’s nonetheless searching for appearing tasks, following his roles in Claire Denis’ Excessive Life, Noah Baumbach’s White Noise, and Kelly Reichardt’s Exhibiting Up. “In the intervening time, I’m attempting to determine how I can discover a approach to do one thing totally different with it,” he instructed Mubi. “There’s a well-known actor—I received’t title him—and each time he sees me, he’s like, ‘You keep in mind that dialog we had? Have you ever discovered that new model of appearing but? I’m nonetheless trying!’ In case you watch cinema, it strikes by way of totally different types of efficiency: Within the ’40s and ’50s, they’d this actually critical form of appearing. Then within the ’60s and ’70s, it was very free. What’s the model for now? I’m searching for that new model, however I don’t know if I’ll discover it at my age. Possibly the youth will, as a result of they’ve grown up with cameras of their faces and YouTube and all the things. However I’m all the time searching for one thing new to problem myself with; I’ve obtained some issues to determine.”
7 Piano Sketches is André 3000’s first new music since releasing 2023’s New Blue Solar. That flute-focused file was the Outkast rapper’s debut solo LP and earned him three Grammy nominations, together with Album of the Yr. The 2024 brief movie Shifting Day, directed by Dexter Navy, documented the making of New Blue Solar and included a beforehand unreleased monitor from these recording periods.
