Idlewild (OutKast album)
Encyclopedia
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.
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
" ("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.
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.
, 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". Q
gave it 4½ out of 5 stars and called it "a dazzling album". Ben Williams of New York
commended its sound and called Idlewild "entertaining and surprisingly consistent". The Guardian
s Alex Petridis gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote that it "bulges with brilliant ideas... Ambitious but flawed, at turns stunning, maddening and confusing". NME
s Dan Martin gave Idlewild an 8/10 rating and praised its "uneven and self-indulgent" style. 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". Fiona Jerome of MusicOMH
gave the album 5 out of 5 stars and praised OutKast's "finesse" and "forays into the treasure trove of black musical history". Uncut
gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and described it as "Stylish and substantial, it's a deft masterpastiche that dissolves history for its own entertainment". Mojo
gave it 4½ out of 5 stars and stated "Every time you think you've got Idlewild figured out, it zips off in a totally unexpected new direction".
However, some critics reacted negatively to the album's unconventional musical style and structure. 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". 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". Preston Jones of Slant Magazine
called it "frustrating, uneven, and strained... an interesting failure". 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". XXL
s Jon Caramanica gave the album an L rating and called it "intermittently brilliant and spotty".
In contrast, Steve Jones of USA Today
commended OutKast's "creative choices" and called the album "as sprawling as it is ambitious. Though it isn’t always focused, it never fails to entertain. Andre 3000 and Big Boi seamlessly mesh hip-hop, ragtime and swing, giving the genres modern updates". 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". In his consumer guide for MSN Music
, critic Robert Christgau
gave Idlewild an A rating, 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". 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".
Notes
Sample Credits
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
duo OutKast
OutKast
Outkast is an American hip hop duo based in East Point, Georgia, consisting of Atlanta native André "André 3000" Benjamin and Savannah, Georgia-born Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. They were originally known as Two Shades Deep but later changed the group's name to OutKast...
, released August 22, 2006 on LaFace Records
LaFace Records
LaFace Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment.-Company history:LaFace was formed in 1989 as a joint venture between the producing duo Antonio "L.A." Reid & Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, and Arista Records. The combined nicknames of the duo's successful...
. It also serves as the soundtrack
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
album to the duo's musical film of the same name
Idlewild (film)
Idlewild is an American musical film, released August 25, 2006, written and directed by Bryan Barber. The film stars André 3000 and Big Boi of the hip hop duo OutKast, and Idlewild features musical numbers written, produced, and chiefly performed by OutKast...
, released by Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
in August 2006. Containing themes relating to the music industry, the album also features songs not included in the film and incorporates blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, R&B, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
musical elements.
The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling 196,000 copies in its first week. It achieved minimal international charting and produced five singles that attained moderate Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
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
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
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...OutkastBig Boi and Dre Present...OutKast
Big Boi and Dre Present...OutKast is the first OutKast greatest hits album, released on Arista Records in 2001. The compilation consists of five tracks from Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, one from ATLiens, and three each from the break-out albums Aquemini and Stankonia...
and Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast, released September 23, 2003 on LaFace Records in the United States. Issued as a double album, it clocks in at over two hours and consists of a solo album from both of the group's members...
. In an interview for Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, Big Boi
Big Boi
Antwan André Patton , better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André...
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
André 3000
André Lauren Benjamin , better known by his stage name André 3000 is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, best known for being part of American hip-hop duo OutKast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi...
and Big Boi
Big Boi
Antwan André Patton , better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André...
; the song takes its lyrical hook from the Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
song "Minnie the Moocher
Minnie the Moocher
"Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over 1 million copies. "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed lyrics . In performances, Calloway would have the audience participate by repeating each scat phrase in a...
" ("Mighty-ighty-ighty O") and seems to be an example of the album's mix of hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and more traditional American jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and blues. Next, similar to previous OutKast albums such as Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is the fifth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast, released September 23, 2003 on LaFace Records in the United States. Issued as a double album, it clocks in at over two hours and consists of a solo album from both of the group's members...
, two singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
—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
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
–influenced "Morris Brown", featuring guest artists Sleepy Brown
Sleepy Brown
Patrick "Sleepy" Brown is an R&B singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is one-third of the successful Atlanta-based production team of Organized Noize, which has created hits for acts such as OutKast, Goodie Mob, and TLC...
and Scar, both artists on Big Boi's Purple Ribbon
Purple Ribbon Records
Purple Ribbon Label is a record label owned by OutKast and distributed through Virgin Records. The label was formerly known as Aquemini Records until André 3000 lost interest and pursued acting. Big Boi has taken sole responsibility of the record label and its roster. Slimm Cutta Calhoun was...
label. The song's title is a reference to Atlanta's Morris Brown College
Morris Brown College
Morris Brown College is a private, coed, liberal arts college located in the Vine City community of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is a historically black college affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church...
, 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
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
genre, complete with a blues-style acoustic guitar riff and a harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
element reminiscent of Aquemini
Aquemini
Aquemini is the third studio album by hip hop duo OutKast, released September 29, 1998 on LaFace Records. The title is a portmanteau of the two performers' Zodiac signs: Aquarius and Gemini...
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
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
and is produced by André 3000.
Commercial performance
Originally planned for early 2005, Idlewilds release date was pushed to December 2005, before being delayed into 2006. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart with first-week sales of 196,000 copies. It also entered at number one on Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
, at number one on the Top Rap Albums
Top Rap Albums
Top Rap Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks Rap and hip-hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart began publication for the week of November 13, 2004....
, 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
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for 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
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
, following shipments in excess of one million copies in the United States. It was certified gold in sales by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...
in November 2006.
Critical response
Idlewild received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 72, based on 30 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
gave it 4½ out of 5 stars and called it "a dazzling album". Ben Williams of New York
New York (magazine)
New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
commended its sound and called Idlewild "entertaining and surprisingly consistent". The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
s Alex Petridis gave it 4 out of 5 stars and wrote that it "bulges with brilliant ideas... Ambitious but flawed, at turns stunning, maddening and confusing". NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
s Dan Martin gave Idlewild an 8/10 rating and praised its "uneven and self-indulgent" style. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
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". Fiona Jerome of MusicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
gave the album 5 out of 5 stars and praised OutKast's "finesse" and "forays into the treasure trove of black musical history". Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and described it as "Stylish and substantial, it's a deft masterpastiche that dissolves history for its own entertainment". Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
gave it 4½ out of 5 stars and stated "Every time you think you've got Idlewild figured out, it zips off in a totally unexpected new direction".
However, some critics reacted negatively to the album's unconventional musical style and structure. Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
writer Jim DeRogatis
Jim DeRogatis
James "Jim" DeRogatis is an American music critic and co-host of Sound Opinions. DeRogatis has written articles for magazines such as Spin, Guitar World and Modern Drummer, and for fifteen years was the pop music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times.He joined Columbia College Chicago as a full-time...
viewed the album as unfocused and wrote "it's all about heavy-handed, faux Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later dubbed "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, Joplin wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas...
ragtime piano; showy but lame Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
horn arrangements; fake Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
crooning (courtesy of Benjamin
André 3000
André Lauren Benjamin , better known by his stage name André 3000 is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and actor, best known for being part of American hip-hop duo OutKast alongside fellow rapper Big Boi...
's nasal, off-key whine) and ultra-hammy vaudeville shucking and jiving". The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
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
Aquemini
Aquemini is the third studio album by hip hop duo OutKast, released September 29, 1998 on LaFace Records. The title is a portmanteau of the two performers' Zodiac signs: Aquarius and Gemini...
, et al". Preston Jones of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
called it "frustrating, uneven, and strained... an interesting failure". Charles Aaron of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
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
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
's most fitfully eclectic periods". XXL
XXL (magazine)
XXL is a Hip-Hop magazine, published by Harris Publications.In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source...
s Jon Caramanica gave the album an L rating and called it "intermittently brilliant and spotty".
In contrast, Steve Jones of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
commended OutKast's "creative choices" and called the album "as sprawling as it is ambitious. Though it isn’t always focused, it never fails to entertain. Andre 3000 and Big Boi seamlessly mesh hip-hop, ragtime and swing, giving the genres modern updates". Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Ann Powers
Ann Powers
Ann Powers is an American writer and pop music critic.Powers has been writing about popular music and society since the early 1980s...
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". In his consumer guide for MSN Music
MSN Music
MSN Music was a part of the MSN web services. It delivered music news, music videos, spotlights on new music, artist information, and live performances of artists. In 2004, Microsoft created an MSN Music download store to compete with Apple's iTunes Music Store, though its sales in comparison were...
, critic Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
gave Idlewild an A rating, 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". 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".
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 MoocherMinnie the Moocher"Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over 1 million copies. "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed lyrics . In performances, Calloway would have the audience participate by repeating each scat phrase in a...
" - written by Cab CallowayCab CallowayCabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, 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 IdlewildIdlewild (film)Idlewild is an American musical film, released August 25, 2006, written and directed by Bryan Barber. The film stars André 3000 and Big Boi of the hip hop duo OutKast, and Idlewild features musical numbers written, produced, and chiefly performed by OutKast...
.
Personnel
Credits for Idlewild adapted from Allmusic.- 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, Guitar, Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), Producer, Drum Programming, Keyboard Programming
- Bamboo – Vocals
- Warren Bletcher – Assistant Engineer, Mixing Assistant
- Steven Boos – Drums
- Jeff Bowdenv – Keyboards
- Leslie Brathwaite – Mixing
- David "Whild" Brown – Vocals (bckgr)
- Myrna "Peach" Brown – Vocals
- Sleepy Brown – Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
- Ralph Cacciurri – Engineer
- Chris CarmoucheChris CarmoucheChris Carmouche , known as "Mouche" is a producer, recording engineer and rapper. In 2004, Carmouche won a Grammy for his work on Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.-Early life:...
– 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, Vocals (bckgr)
- 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 – Vocals (bckgr)
- Josh Houghkirk – Mixing Assistant
- Chris Jackson – Engineer
- Kevin Kendricks – Keyboards, Producer
- Kevin Kendrix – Synthesizer, Piano, Keyboards, Horn Arrangements
- Debra Killings – Bass, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr)
- Chuck Lightning – Arranger, Producer
- Lil Wayne – Vocals
- Ryan McDaniels – Assistant Engineer
- Janelle Monáe – Arranger, Vocals, Vocals (bckgr), 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, Vocals (bckgr)
- Terry Smith – Vocals (bckgr)
- Snoop Dogg – Vocals
- Matthew Still – Audio Production, Engineer, Assistant Engineer
- Phil Tan – Mixing
- Denise Trorman – Art Direction, Design
- Uncoolgirlz Choir – Vocals (bckgr)
- Johnny Vulture – Producer
- David Whild – Guitar, Vocals (bckgr)
- Melissa Zampatti – Vocals
Chart positions
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
27 |
| Austrian Albums Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
56 |
| Belgium Albums Chart Ultratop Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium, and it is also the name of most of those charts... |
24 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
6 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
32 |
| Finish Albums Chart Mitä hittiä The Official Finnish Charts is a national record chart in Finland composed by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.The singles chart was started in January 1991 as Radiomafian lista and was broadcast on the radio station Radiomafia of the Finnish Broadcasting Company, YLE. This chart is based on a... |
20 |
| French Albums Chart | 77 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
19 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
33 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 13 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
11 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
18 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
4 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
16 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
2 |
| US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
1 |
| US Billboard Top Rap Albums Top Rap Albums Top Rap Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks Rap and hip-hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart began publication for the week of November 13, 2004.... |
1 |
Sales and certifications
| Country | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | Gold | 50,000 |
| United States | Platinum | 1,000,000 |
Chart procession and succession
External links
- Idlewild at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Idlewild at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...