Idlewild (Outkast album)

Idlewild
Studio album / Soundtrack by OutKast
Released	August 22, 2006
Recorded	2005–2006
Genre	Hip hop, blues, R&B, jazz, soul
Length	77:52
Label	LaFace/Jive
Producer	André 3000 (also exec.), Big Boi (also exec.), Chuck Lightning, Janelle Monáe, Jeminesse Smith, Kevin Kendrick, Nate "Rocket" Wonder, Mr. DJ, Organized Noize, Whild Peach
OutKast chronology
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003) Idlewild (2006)
Singles from Idlewild
"Mighty O" Released: June 27, 2006 "Morris Brown" Released: August 14, 2006 "Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me)" Released: November 9, 2006 "Hollywood Divorce" Released: November 6, 2006 "The Train" Released: December 5, 2006

Idlewild is the sixth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast, released August 22, 2006 on LaFace Records. It also serves as the soundtrack album to the duo's musical film of the same name, released by Universal Pictures in August 2006. Containing themes relating to the music industry, the album also features songs not included in the film and incorporates blues, R&B, jazz, and soul musical elements.

The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 196,000 copies in its first week. It achieved minimal international charting and produced five singles that attained moderate Billboard chart success. Despite mixed criticism towards its unconventional musical style and loose thematic structure, Idlewild received positive reviews from most music critics upon its release. The album has been certified platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of one million copies in the United States.

Music

Though less a soundtrack and more of a companion album, the Idlewild album features seven songs from the Idlewild film: "Chronomentrophobia", "Makes No Sense at All", "PJ and Rooster", "Greatest Show on Earth", "When I Look in Your Eyes", and, from the end credits, "Morris Brown". Two snippets of film dialogue are also included on the album as interludes. The rest of the songs performed in the film were included on the earlier OutKast LPs Big Boi and Dre Present...Outkast and Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. In an interview for Billboard, Big Boi stated "This is an OutKast album. It isn't like a soundtrack where we go get this person or that person".^[1]

The first single of the album, "Mighty 'O'", features both André 3000 and Big Boi; the song takes its lyrical hook from the Cab Calloway song "Minnie the Moocher" ("Mighty-ighty-ighty O") and seems to be an example of the album's mix of hip hop and more traditional American jazz and blues. Next, similar to previous OutKast albums such as Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, two singles—one solely by Big Boi, the other solely by André 3000—were released simultaneously. The second single, almost exclusively featuring Big Boi, is the marching band–influenced "Morris Brown", featuring guest artists Sleepy Brown and Scar, both artists on Big Boi's Purple Ribbon label. The song's title is a reference to Atlanta's Morris Brown College, with the school's marching band providing the instrumentation.

The third single, André 3000's "Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me)" delves into the blues genre, complete with a blues-style acoustic guitar riff and a harmonica element reminiscent of Aquemini single "Rosa Parks". In tune with the film, Idlewild reflects OutKast's original style tempered by 1930s influences. The fourth single, "Hollywood Divorce" was released in November 2006, and features verses from Lil' Wayne and Snoop Dogg and is produced by André 3000.

Reception

Commercial performance

Originally planned for early 2005, Idlewild's release date was pushed to December 2005, before being delayed into 2006.^[1] The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 196,000 copies.^[2] It also entered at number one on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums,^[3] at number one on the Top Rap Albums,^[4] and at number two on the Top Digital Albums chart.^[5] The album dropped to number seven on the Billboard 200, selling 78,000 copies in its second week.^[6] It spent nine weeks on the Billboard 200.^[7] In the United Kingdom, Idlewild debuted at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart.^[8] It fell to number 28 in its second week on the chart.^[9] While it charted wihin the top-twenty in several other countries, the album spent a minimal amount of weeks on most charts.^[10][11] On August 26, 2006, the album was certified platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, following shipments in excess of one million copies in the United States.^[12] It was certified gold in sales by the Canadian Recording Industry Association in November 2006.^[13]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[14]
Robert Christgau	A[15]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[16]
The Guardian	[17]
NME	8/10[18]
Pitchfork Media	6.7/10[19]
Q	[20]
Rolling Stone	[21]
Slant Magazine	[22]
Uncut	[23]

Idlewild received generally positive reviews from most music critics.^[23] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72, based on 30 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[23] Q called it "a dazzling album".^[20] Ben Williams of New York commended its sound and called Idlewild "entertaining and surprisingly consistent".^[24] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis wrote that it "bulges with brilliant ideas... Ambitious but flawed, at turns stunning, maddening and confusing".^[17] NME's Dan Martin praised its "uneven and self-indulgent" style.^[18] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone compared Idlewild to Prince's Parade (1986), while praising its "deeply eccentric richness" and calling it "so suave on the surface, it takes a few spins to absorb how radical it is".^[21] Fiona Jerome of MusicOMH praised OutKast's "finesse" and "forays into the treasure trove of black musical history".^[25]

Los Angeles Times writer Ann Powers viewed a lack of coherence and a "clear message" as its weakness, but called it "sonically challenging and lyrically wide-ranging... Twenty-five tracks offer outstanding material for contemplation and booty-shaking".^[26] In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau gave Idlewild an A rating,^[15] indicating "a record that rarely flags for more than two or three tracks. Not every listener will feel what it's trying to do, but anyone with ears will agree that it's doing it".^[27] Christgau called it "a joyous mishmash" and praised each OutKast-member's distinct performance, stating "from the mainstream hip-hop Big Boi articulates with so much muscle to the retro swing Andre sings just fine, they sound happy to parade their mastery".^[15] Uncut described it as "Stylish and substantial, it's a deft masterpastiche that dissolves history for its own entertainment".^[23] Mojo stated, "Every time you think you've got Idlewild figured out, it zips off in a totally unexpected new direction".^[23]

In a negative review, Chicago Sun-Times writer Jim DeRogatis viewed the album as unfocused and wrote "it's all about heavy-handed, faux Scott Joplin ragtime piano; showy but lame Cab Calloway horn arrangements; fake Rudy Vallee crooning (courtesy of Benjamin's nasal, off-key whine) and ultra-hammy vaudeville shucking and jiving".^[28] The Washington Post's J. Freedom du Lac noted a "creative schism" in the duo and wrote "For all of its flashes of greatness -- the brassy marching-band rap of 'Morris Brown', the psychedelic hip-hop flashback 'Train', the Stevie Wonder-inspired acoustic blues number 'Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me)' -- the staggeringly eclectic 'Idlewild' includes too much filler and too many outright stink bombs to deserve a place alongside the best pop offerings of 2006, let alone 'Aquemini', et al".^[29] Preston Jones of Slant Magazine called it "frustrating, uneven, and strained... an interesting failure".^[22] Charles Aaron of Spin called it "a perplexing album", but commended the duo's musical ambition and wrote "[Idlewild] grasps for a distinctive sound, departing almost entirely from rap per se. There are touches of the jazz/jump blues from the film's '30s/40's demimonde, as well as shades of Prince's most fitfully eclectic periods".^[30] XXL's Jon Caramanica called it "intermittently brilliant and spotty".^[31]

Track listing

Writing and production credits for Idlewild adapted from Discogs.com.^[32]

Notes

• In the album booklet, the producer for "A Bad Note" is listed as Johnny Vulture, which actually stands as a nickname for André 3000.

Sample Credits

• "Mighty 'O" contains a portion of the composition "Minnie the Moocher" - written by Cab Calloway, Clarence Gaskill and Irving Mills - as performed by Cab Calloway.
• "Peaches" contains a sample from "Cuss Words" as performed by Too Short.
• "The Train", "Call the Law", "Buggface" and "PJ & Rooster" contain dialogue from the film Idlewild.

Personnel

Credits for Idlewild adapted from Allmusic.^[33]

Chart history

Chart procession and succession

References

External links

• Idlewild at Discogs
• Idlewild at Metacritic