Idlewild

Amazon.co.uk Both a soundtrack to their new feature film and a new album in its own right, Outkast's Idlewild feels every bit a worthy follow-up to Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, the double album that marked out Big Boi and Andre 3000 as two of the most talented populist-experimentalists working in hip-hop. In keeping with the film's 30s-themed premise, Idlewild sees blues, ragtime, jazz and vaudeville infiltrate further into the Outkast design: Andre 3000's "Idlewild Blue" is borne along on a spare, Johnny Cash-style guitar line, while "The Mighty O" - a rare track that features Andre and Big Boi together, rapping back to back – thieves its hook from Cab Calloway's classic "Minnie The Moocher". There's no shortage of special guests: Macy Gray crops up on chilling torch-song "The Greatest Show On Earth", Lil' Wayne and Snoop Dogg feature on "Hollywood Divorce", and Sleepy Brown – a tender-voiced R&B singer signed to Big Boi's Purple Ribbon Records – crops up on a number of tracks. Some may be disappointed by the closing "A Bad Note", an indulgent eight minutes of feedback, but truthfully there’s enough in the preceding 24 tracks to satisfy any Outkast fan that loved Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. The big question after that album was: will Outkast split up? The question now is: where can they go next? –-Louis Pattison Product description Outkast ~ Idlewild