Idlewild (Outkast album)

Idlewild
Studio album by OutKast
Released	August 22, 2006
Genre	Hip hop, swing, Delta blues, hot jazz, jump blues, soul
Length	77:52
Label	LaFace, Jive
Producer	André 3000 (also exec.), Big Boi (also exec.), Chuck Lightning, Janelle Monáe, Jeminesse Smith, Kevin Kendricks, 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. It was released on August 22, 2006, by LaFace Records and served as the soundtrack album to the duo's musical film of the same name, which was released that same month. Containing themes relating to the music industry, the album also featured songs not included in the film while incorporating jazz, blues, swing, and soul styles in its music.

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.

Background

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]

According to PopMatters critic Tim O'Neil, Idlewild's music was "not merely contemporary hip-hop, but a unique hybridization of modern hip-hop with vintage big-band jazz and Delta blues."^[2] Jess Harvell from Pitchfork observed imitations of hot jazz and jump blues songs throughout the record,^[3] while New York Post writer Dan Aquilante said the album mixed hip hop, jazz, blues, swing, and soul music, as OutKast "chronicled African American musical history with original tunes that transcend race and time".^[4]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
The A.V. Club	B[6]
Entertainment Weekly	B[7]
The Guardian	[8]
MSN Music	A[9]
NME	8/10[10]
Pitchfork	6.7/10[3]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Slant Magazine	[12]
Spin	[13]

Idlewild's release was delayed several times in 2005 before being released in 2006.^[1] In its first week, the album charted at number two on the Billboard 200 and sold 196,000 copies in the United States.^[14] On August 26, 2006, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, having shipped one million copies in the US.^[15] In Canada, it was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association.^[16]

Idlewild received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 72, based on 30 reviews.^[17] Q called it "a dazzling album",^[18] while Ben Williams of New York found it "entertaining and surprisingly consistent".^[19] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis wrote that it "bulges with brilliant ideas... Ambitious but flawed, at turns stunning, maddening and confusing".^[8] Rob Sheffield from 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".^[11] 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".^[20] Writing 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".^[9] Uncut described it as "Stylish and substantial, it's a deft masterpastiche that dissolves history for its own entertainment".^[21] Mojo stated, "Every time you think you've got Idlewild figured out, it zips off in a totally unexpected new direction".^[21]

According to NME critic Dan Martin, other critics might have found Idlewild to be "a bit long and uneven and self-indulgent".^[10] 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 (courtesy of Benjamin's nasal, off-key whine) and ultra-hammy vaudeville shucking and jiving".^[22] 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".^[23] Preston Jones from Slant Magazine called it "frustrating, uneven, and strained ... an interesting failure".^[12] 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".^[13]

Track listing

Writing and production credits for Idlewild adapted from Discogs.com.^[24]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"			2:12
2.	"Mighty 'O'"	André Benjamin, Antwan Patton, Cab Calloway, Clarence Gaskill, Dave Robbins, Irving Mills, Patrick Brown, Ray Murray, Rico Wade	Organized Noize	4:16
3.	"Peaches" (featuring Sleepy Brown & Scar)	Patton, Marvin Parkman, Mike Hardnett, P. Brown, Preston Crump, Murray, Wade, Terrence Smith	Organized Noize	3:10
4.	"Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me)"	Benjamin	André 3000	3:24
5.	"Infatuation" (Interlude)			0:48
6.	"N2U" (featuring Khujo)	Patton, Mike Patterson, P. Brown, Murray, Wade, Robert Manzoli, Wallace Khatib, Willie Knighton	Organized Noize	3:40
7.	"Morris Brown" (featuring Scar & Sleepy Brown)	Benjamin, Patton, T. Smith	André 3000	4:24
8.	"Chronomentrophobia"	Benjamin	André 3000	2:12
9.	"The Train" (featuring Sleepy Brown & Scar)	Patton, David Brown, Joi Gilliam, Kevin Kendrick, Myrna Crenshaw, P. Brown, T. Smith	Big Boi	4:09
10.	"Life Is Like a Musical"	Benjamin	André 3000	2:14
11.	"No Bootleg DVDs" (Interlude)			0:50
12.	"Hollywood Divorce" (featuring Lil Wayne & Snoop Dogg)	Benjamin, Patton, Calvin Broadus, Dwayne Carter	André 3000	5:23
13.	"Zora" (Interlude)			0:16
14.	"Call the Law" (featuring Janelle Monáe)	Patton, Charles Joseph II, Janelle Robinson, Nathaniel Irvin III	Nate "Rocket" Wonder, Big Boi (co.), Chuck Lightning (co.), Janelle Monáe (co.)	4:51
15.	"Bamboo & Cross" (Interlude)			0:55
16.	"Buggface"	Patton, David Sheats, Jeminesse Smith	Jeminesse Smith, Mr. DJ	2:45
17.	"Makes No Sense at All"	Benjamin	André 3000	2:53
18.	"In Your Dreams" (featuring Killer Mike & Janelle Monáe)	Patton, Robinson, P. Brown, Murray	Organized Noize	3:34
19.	"PJ & Rooster"	Benjamin, Patton	André 3000	4:27
20.	"Mutron Angel" (featuring Whild Peach)	Patton, D. Brown, M. Brown	Whild Peach	4:18
21.	"Greatest Show on Earth" (featuring Macy Gray)	Benjamin	André 3000	3:06
22.	"You're Beautiful" (Interlude)			0:29
23.	"When I Look in Your Eyes"	Benjamin, Kendrick	Kevin Kendricks	2:43
24.	"Dyin' to Live"	Benjamin	André 3000	2:07
25.	"A Bad Note"	Benjamin, Kendrick	André 3000	8:47

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.^[25]

Kory Aaron – Assistant Engineer Malik Albert – Engineer, Audio Production Victor Alexander – Drums Vincent Alexander – Assistant Engineer Kori Anders – Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant André 3000 – Executive Producer, Guitars, Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Vocals, Background Vocals, Producer, Drum Programming Bamboo – Vocals Warren Bletcher – Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant Steven Boos – Drums Jeff Bowdenv – Keyboards Leslie Brathwaite – Mixing David "Whild" Brown – Background Vocals Myrna "Peach" Brown – Vocals Sleepy Brown – Vocals, Background Vocals Ralph Cacciurri – Engineer Chris Carmouche – Engineer, Mixing, Audio Production Preston Crump – Bass Cutmaster Swift – Scratching Regina Davenport – A&R Sean Davis – Engineer, Audio Production Dookieblossumgame – Vocals Tom Doty – Mixing Assistant Eddie Ellis – Conductor Gary Fly – Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant Jerry Freeman – Cornet, Horn, Horn Arrangements John Frye – Audio Production, Engineer, Mixing Joi Gilliam – Vocals, Background Vocals Macy Gray – Vocals Bernie Grundman – Mastering Robert Hannon – Engineer, Assistant Engineer Mike Hardnett – Guitar Tuesday Henderson – Percussion John Holmes – Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant, Audio Production

Aaron Holton – Assistant Engineer Hot Tub Tony – Background Vocals Josh Houghkirk – Mixing Assistant Chris Jackson – Engineer Kevin Kendricks – Piano, Keyboards, Horn Arrangements, Producer Debra Killings – Bass, Vocals, Background Vocals Chuck Lightning – Arranger, Producer Lil Wayne – Vocals Ryan McDaniels – Assistant Engineer Janelle Monáe – Arranger, Vocals, Background Vocals, Producer Morris Brown College Gospel Choir – Instrumentation Vernon Mungo – Engineer Wyatt Oates – Assistant Engineer Organized Noize – Programming, Producer, Drum Programming Marvin "Chanz" Parkman – Keyboards Mike Patterson – Bass, Guitar Antwan Patton – Executive Producer Josh Phillips – Assistant Engineer Neil Pogue – Mixing Chris Rakestraw – Mixing Assistant Dave Robbins – Bass, Keyboards Albey Scholl – Harmonica Rob Skipworth – Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant Skreechy Peachy – Vocals, Background Vocals Terry Smith – Background Vocals Snoop Dogg – Vocals Matthew Still – Audio Production, Engineer, Assistant Engineer Phil Tan – Mixing Denise Trorman – Art Direction, Design Uncoolgirlz Choir – Background Vocals Johnny Vulture – Producer David Whild – Guitar, Background Vocals Melissa Zampatti – Vocals

Charts

Chart (2006)	Peak position
Australian Albums Chart[26]	27
Austrian Albums Chart[26]	56
Belgium Albums Chart[26]	24
Canadian Albums Chart[27]	6
Dutch Albums Chart[26]	32
Finnish Albums Chart[26]	20
French Albums Chart[26]	77
Irish Albums Chart[26]	19
German Albums Chart[26]	33
New Zealand Albums Chart[26]	13
Norwegian Albums Chart[26]	11
Swedish Albums Chart[26]	18
Swiss Albums Chart[26]	4
UK Albums Chart[28]	16
US Billboard 200[29]	2
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[30]	1
US Billboard Top Rap Albums[31]	1

Chart procession and succession

Certifications

Country	Certification	Sales
Canada	Gold[16]	50,000
United States	Platinum[15]	1,000,000

References

1. Mitchell, Gail. Outkast's 'Idlewild' Bumped To Next Year. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
2. PopMatters review
3. Harvell, Jess. Review: Idlewild. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
4. New York Post review
5. Kellman, Andy. Review: Idlewild. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
6. The A.V. Club review
7. Kot, Greg (2006-08-25). Review: Idlewild. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
8. Petridis, Alexis. Review: Idlewild. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
9. Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Idlewild". MSN Music: December 2006. Archived from the original on 2009-10-10.
10. Martin, Dan. Review: Idlewild. NME. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
11. Sheffield, Rob (2006-08-23). Review: Idlewild. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-10-10.
12. Jones, Preston. Review: Idlewild. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2010-07-30.
13. Aaron, Charles. "Review: Idlewild". Spin: 99. September 2006.
14. Hasty, Katie. Danity Kane Sidesteps OutKast To Claim No. 1. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
15. Gold & Platinum - Searchable Database: Idlewild. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved on 2010-05-09.
16. Search Certification Database: Idlewild. Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
17. Idlewild (2006): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2009-07-09.
18. Columnist. "Review: Idlewild". Q: 124. October 2006.
19. Williams, Ben. Review: Idlewild. New York. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
20. Powers, Ann. Review: Idlewild. Los Angeles Times. Archived on 2010-05-10.
21. Idlewild (2006): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2009-07-09.
22. DeRogatis, Jim. Review: Idlewild. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
23. Lac, J. Freedom du. Review: Idlewild. The Washington Post. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
24. OutKast - Idlewild (CD, Album). Discogs.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-29.
25. Credits: Idlewild. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
26. Album Performance: Idlewild. acharts. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
27. Billboard Albums: Idlewild. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
28. Top 40 Official UK Albums Archive - 2nd September 2006. The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
29. Chart History: OutKast - Billboard 200. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
30. R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Week of September 09, 2006. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
31. Rap Albums - Week of September 09, 2006. Billboard. Retrieved on 2010-05-10.
32. Top Hip-Hop and R&B Albums & Charts – Week of September 16, 2006. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-04-29.
33. Rap Albums – Week of September 16, 2006. Billboard. Retrieved on 2011-04-29.

External links

• Idlewild at Discogs
• Idlewild at Metacritic