Issue date: 9/15/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment

I remember catching a trailer for an Outkast musical with a friend at the end of 2005. Then set for release in March, my friend said he thought the movie looked incredible. A little hesitant, I replied, "Well, at the very least it'll be new Outkast music."
Six months later, after many delays, duo André Benjamin and Big Boi finally released their movie musical Idlewild and its soundtrack. Idlewild is a new CD from Outkast, it is a soundtrack to a movie musical, and most importantly, it is also rumored as the duo's last album together.
Each should really be graded separately because it is hard to balance all three acts. I love the music to movies like "Chicago," but don't really care to listen to it in my stereo. Most of the songs from the album aren't even in the movie; they are just new Outkast songs. An extra layer of difficulty is added when judging a song by if it suits the characters and the movie, not just if it is a good song on its own merit. It could work well in the film, but not on the disc. Yes, it's complicated. So Outkast fans, I have some good news and some bad news.
First the worst, Idlewild appears to be proof of these geniuses' separation. Only five songs are credited as Outkast songs. The rest are split up between Big Boi and André 3000 songs. Even though the artists were on separate discs, Speakerboxx/The Love Below was still an Outkast CD as a whole. Idlewild feels like about 17 CDs and the two guys barely appear on the same tracks.
On the first song "Mighty 'O,'" one of the few tracks featuring both musicians, André raps, "Divorce is not an option, and prenuptial is void." André, whom could you possibly be speaking of? As of late, most of André's songs have moved from rap to, well, anything else, and that doesn't change here. He sings a lot, but doesn't quite have the voice. However, I'm pretty sure most of his songs are sung by Percival, his character in the movie. "Idlewild Blue (Don't Chu Worry 'Bout Me)" is his best contribution and one of his only takes as André himself.

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