Outkast

By now there should be no doubt about who the greatest duo in hip hop is. The answer is obvious. Outkast is the greatest hip hop group in the history of rap music hands down. If anyone still has the nerve to cast doubt on this they need only look at the duo’s long and successful track record. With 12 years in the game and six multi-platinum albums the proof of André and Big Boi’s greatness is definitely in the proverbial pudding.

The duo begin their foray into hip hop in 1994 with the release of their seminal record “Players Ball.” The song became a hit single on La Face Record’s Christmas album. The reaction to the record prompted the label to add the young duo as the label’s first hip hop act. Their debut LP Southernplaylisticadillacmusik sold a million copies and helped lay a solid foundation for the current explosion of Southern hip hop. ATLiens, their critically acclaimed sophomore effort, sold a million and a half units. The record cemented the duo’s position as one of the groups on the cutting edge of hip hop. Their third LP, Aquemini, reached a major plateau in their career. Not only was the LP declared a basified classic by hip hop publications like the Source and Rap Pages, the LP moved three million people up to join the swelling ranks of Outkast fans. To this day Aquemini remains one of the quintessential records in hip hop. On Stankonia, Outkast pushed the envelop even further by revisiting the spirit of George Clinton, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Hazel and dropped five million listeners into some good old fashion psychedelic hip hop funk. Their fifth platinum LP entitled Big Boi and Dré Presents… Outkast the group presented fans with a retrospective of classic hit plus three new songs one of which, “The Whole World” earned them a coveted Grammy Award for best rap song by a duo or group. The Love Below/Speakerboxx, André 3000 and Big Boi have taken a bold step forward by releasing an unprecedented dual CD containing their own individual musical statements, thus giving fans a glimpse into the creative minds of each member. The record sold a whopping eleven million copies and remained at the top of the pop charts for months after months.

Now with their seventh LP Idlewild, the musical companion to their upcoming major motion picture with the same name and the follow-up to their 11x platinum-selling LP the Love Below/Speakerboxx, hip hop’s dynamic duo are poised to open a new chapter in audio-visual expression.

What exactly is Idlewild and what does it mean? Idlewild is a fictional town in rural Georgia where the film is set.

“It was a city in Michigan,” explains André. “Brian [Barber’s] wife is from Michigan and there was a town in Michigan in the 30s and 40s called Idlewild. It was a place where prominent Black people that had money would go vacation. It was kinda like the Hamptons but for Black people. So we just took that name and took that sensibility and placed it in Georgia and called it Idlewild, Georgia.”

The plot revolves around two lifelong friends Percival Jenkins Jr., a mild manner mortician’s son and aspiring musician played by André, and Rooster played by Big Boi, a number runner and bootlegger who uses the mortician’s hearse to run moonshine. Rooster opens up a speakeasy called “the Church” and gets his friend Percival to work as a pianist. But their friendship is put to the test when Rooster’s club is in danger of being taken over by a local gangster.

It’s a movie [that’s] fun enough for everybody,” says Big Boi. “it’s gonna bring a touch of class back to people of color.”

As far as films go both André and Big Boi are no strangers to the sliver screen. André has appeared in four major motion pictures including Hollywood Homicide, Be Cool, Revolver and Four Brothers while Big Boi made his acting debut in the Southern coming of age drama ATL. Idlewild, the film marks Outkast’s acting debut and the two play their roles with a range of seasoned actors. The same chemistry that exists in their music comes through the silver screen like gangbusters.

“The characters got so much life to them to where you don’t get tired of them,” says Big Boi. “You want to see more of each character. It’s cool to have a character that’s written for you. You can play them how you want to play them –there’s nothing like it.”

But it is the music that has always been the group’s creative calling card and Idlewild the album is certainly no exception. Ask the duo if the album is a soundtrack by Outkast or an Outkast album with music inspired by the movie that serves as a kind of musical companion to the film and they’ll tell you emphatically yes to both queries.

“Well, it works both ways,” says Dré. “Because the movie is a musical so we do perform some of the songs on the album in the movie. But then there are new songs that you may hear in the background but it’s just the music. So it’s kinda like a soundtrack and an Outkast album.”

Produced by André, Big Boi, the Dungeon Family, Slim Jim, Tricky Stewart and Kevin Kendrick, Idlewild contains a throng of banging tracks that combine both the elegant swing of 1940’s jazz, the gritty earthiness of the blues, along with the complex rhythms and melodies that has come to characterized Outkast music over the years. A perfect example of this sophisticated blend of musical genre can be heard in the song “Mighty O,” the blazing lead single that combines modern hip hop with a touch of swing jazz in the grand tradition of the late great Cab Calloway. Another thing that makes this song so special is the fact that both Dré and Big Boi are spitting some of their hottest lyrics in years.

“Mighty O came at the last minute,” explains André. “Rico came to the studio and played this beat and I dug it. I was trying to figure out how we can make it fit the soundtrack so I just started humming a little I de I de I thing. You know Cab Callaway is probably the most famous from that time period. So instead of saying hi de hi de hi I said Mighty de hi di O for Mighty Outkast. I wasn’t too sure about it. I just knew that people really felt it so I was like hey, that must be the one we need to put out.”

“Morris Brown” featuring Scar & Sleepy Brown is another outstanding song on the album. Produced by André “Morris Brown” is a carefree jazzy joint that features Big Boi flowing effortlessly over a funky drum track combined with a dynamic horn arrangement played by the Morris Brown University Marching band.

“Originally, I did the song for TLC,’ say Dré. “I had brought the whole band into the studio. They liked the song but they didn’t wanna pay for it. So it just sat around in the studio for a long time until last year when one of Big Boy’s artists named Scar heard the track and started writing to it. After he wrote the singing part then Big Boi came on in and did the thing.”

“On the Way to Heaven” featuring Ben Vereen, (who plays Percival’s father), is one of the songs featured in the movie. It’s a slow blues dirge that finds Dré and Ben Vereen characters singing to comfort the loved ones of the deceased. Their voices are complimented perfectly by a swinging trumpet riff. Another Blues inspired tune is the one inspired by the movie title. On “Don’t Chu Worry Bout Me / Idlewild Blues” Andre flies solo singing a foot-stomping blues-influenced tune that swings with hip hop swagger that would make any bluesman proud. And like the blues tunes of old this song has a double meaning one for the character in the movie, the other for the doubters and naysayer who always want to pour salt on Outkast.

“I had to write from Percival’s eyes but put myself in it so it could come off true and not pretentious,” say André. So when I’m speaking saying people don’t worry about me or mama don’t worry about me that’s me talking but I’m talking through Percival. So when I say people don’t worry ’bout me, that’s kinda like everybody out there who have been paying attention to Outkast for a minute and feel like me and Big Boi tripping. That’s like saying don’t worry ‘bout us, me and Big Boi, we straight.”

With Idlewild once again Outkast have raised the musical stakes by doing what they do every time they hit the studio –make great music.