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".
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" 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" 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. Commercial performance
Originally planned for early 2005, Idlewild '​s release date was pushed to December 2005,
before being delayed into 2006. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard
200 chart with first-week sales of 196,000 copies. It also entered at number one on Billboard '​s
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, at number one on the Top Rap Albums, and at number two on the Top
Digital Albums chart. The album dropped to number seven on the Billboard 200, selling
78,000 copies in its second week. It spent nine weeks on the Billboard 200. In the United
Kingdom, Idlewild debuted at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart. It fell to number 28
in its second week on the chart. While it charted wihin the top-twenty in several other
countries, the album spent a minimal amount of weeks on most charts.
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. It was certified gold in sales by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
in November 2006. Critical reception
Idlewild received generally positive reviews from music critics. 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. Q called it "a dazzling album", while Ben
Williams of New York found it "entertaining and surprisingly consistent". The Guardian '​s
Alexis Petridis wrote that it "bulges with brilliant ideas... Ambitious but flawed, at
turns stunning, maddening and confusing". NME magazine's Dan Martin praised its "uneven
and self-indulgent" style. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone compared Idlewild to Prince's
Parade, 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". Although she felt it lacked
cohesion and a "clear message", Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times found the album "sonically
challenging and lyrically wide-ranging", including songs for "contemplation and booty-shaking".
In his consumer guide for MSN Music, Robert Christgau called Idlewild "a joyous mishmash"
and praised each OutKast-member's distinct performance: "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". Uncut described it as "Stylish and substantial,
it's a deft masterpastiche that dissolves history for its own entertainment". Mojo stated,
"Every time you think you've got Idlewild figured out, it zips off in a totally unexpected
new direction". In a negative review for the Chicago Sun-Times,
Jim DeRogatis viewed the album as unfocused and stated, "it's all about heavy-handed,
faux Scott Joplin ragtime piano; showy but lame Cab Calloway horn arrangements; fake
Rudy Vallee crooning and ultra-hammy vaudeville shucking and jiving". 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' -- 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". Preston Jones of Slant Magazine called it "frustrating, uneven, and strained ... an
interesting failure". Spin magazine's Charles Aaron called it "a perplexing album", despite
how it "grasps for a distinctive sound, departing almost entirely from rap per se" in favor
of music from "the jazz/jump blues from the film's '30s/40's demimonde, as well as shades
of Prince's most fitfully eclectic periods". Track listing
Writing and production credits for Idlewild adapted from Discogs.com.
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.
Chart history Chart procession and succession
References
External links Idlewild at Discogs
Idlewild at Metacritic