AP Dhillon went full Kurt Cobain at Coachella, but in Balmain

Last weekend at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was an eventful one. For starters, sales of one of the biggest music festivals in the world have dipped this year, selling approximately 80 per cent of the 250,000 tickets available for purchase, according to Billboard. Headliners like Lana Del Rey, Tyler The Creator and Doja Cat managed to wow their audiences with their performances, but it was surprise guests, on and off the stage, who stole the show, including Taylor Swift with boyfriend Travis Kelce, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish and Childish Gambino, among others.

Diljit Dosanjh created history last year as the first Punjabi singer to perform at Coachella, this year the streak of Indians performing at Coachella continued as Indian-Canadian rapper AP Dhillon set the stage on fire with his greatest hits. And he literally embodied that with his clothing.

The 31-year-old wore a complete look from Balmain’s fall 2024 menswear collection. The collection saw creative director Olivier Rousteing, who has been at the forefront of the brand for 13 years now, return to maximalism with a loud bang. A riot of bright colours, figurative prints and polka dots, metallic gleam and couture-caliber embellishments were seen in menswear, an off-the-route take on the trend of “quiet luxury.” For this particular collection, the designer teamed up with two artists, Prince Gyasi from Ghana, and Ibby Njoya from Cameroon, to bring African elements to life.

For his Coachella performance, AP Dhillon wore a blouson that was part of Ibby Njoya’s colourful vision, paired with leather baggy pants. The singer accessoried his look with a pair of fingerless leather gloves, a chunky watch, and Prada Cloudbust Thunder sneakers that cost about $1,200 (approximately Rs 1 lakh).

But more than his Coachella fashion fit, the rapper’s performance was eclipsed by two major, albeit controversial moments on stage: his tribute to the late Sidhu Mossewale with “Justice for Sidhu Mossewale” sprawled across the screen, and his guitar-trashing moment on stage, which fans were quick to classify as rather cringe. The rapper later justified it by sharing a video of legendary rockstar Kurt Cobain thrashing his guitar mid-performance.

Last year, the elusive music sensation dropped his documentary series, AP Dhillon: First of a Kind, on Amazon Prime Video, in a bid to give audiences a glimpse into his life. For the Mumbai premiere, the Brown Munde singer wore a complete Alexander McQueen look from their Pre-fall 2023 collection. Whether you are a fan of Dhillon or not, you have to admit that desi rappers these days are one step ahead when it comes to showing off their fashion fits.