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Album
Review
Outkast - Idlewild Dre's Fault. by: Malik Sinsear, for Entertainment
The second thing that crossed my mind was that this was all Andre’s fault. Everyone knows he doesn’t really care about rapping as much as he cares about making movies, dressing odd and singing, in that order. I know Big Boi just be lookin’ at that guy like, “Cot damn you weirdo, how come we can’t just make records and go out on tour like we used to, home bwoy?” And Dre be lookin right back at Big Boi like, “’Toine, you see Cee-Lo cookin’ his weirdo mojo? I gotta hurry up and step my shit up before people remember him and Gipp were the first authentic weirdoes in our Dungeon Family clique…nigga, shut up, you rich!” And, I, the fan am just looking at both of theses dudes like, “Fuck all that, Big Boi is right.” I’m pretty sure at least two of those are dead on. So, with Idlewild, our beloved ATLiens, for the most part, play the part of a southern club owner and performer from the 50’s. More importantly, it’s the battle of what Outkast has become the last few years and albums: a power struggle between Big Boi wanting to rap and Dre wanting to be a rock star. The Speakerboxxx/The Love Below album was clearly the last straw. Unless they just planned on packaging two totally different records together and calling them “double albums” every time out, there was bound to be an awkward record that exposed their lack of continuity. This is that record as each feature further illustrates the point. From the lead single, Morris Brown featuring Sleepy Brown and some dude with a scar on his face named Scar(brilliant!)with Big Boi trying to keep it Hip-Hop to the Dre quick-crooned Makes No Sense At All, these guys are clearly not on the same page. It’s really a shame too, because although Big Boi is a talented artist in his own right, it’s no secret that when Andre Benjamin sets out to pair his one and a half verses up with his partner’s the two can’t be stopped. Even with their first leaked track from the set, Mighty “O,” despite containing the most annoying chorus this side of an Eminem first single, the guys verses have you anticipating more and more. What a false sense of hope. Aside from instant classic, Hollywood Divorce featuring Snoop and the un-Gillie assisted Lil Wayne, there simply aren’t any other noteworthy “Outkast” songs on this Outkast album. And it’s Dre’s fault. No record on the CD better illustrates Dre’s gift and curse of wanting to be a bootleg Jimi Hendrix with Rakim’s poetical talent than Chronomentrophobia. For the first 1:20 of the track, he’s having a Prince fit whining and moaning, then bam, out of nowhere, a short verse probably written on a cloud in Heaven. And what’s worse is you, the listener feel privileged to even get that, when you should feel pissed off because dude with the loud outfit on owes you two more verses. Idlewild contains a few bright spots of Dre doing his funk and soul thing. Life Is Like A Musical is just feel good music and Greatest Show On Earth featuring Macy Gray really surprised me, because it had all the makings of colossal blunder since I don’t particularly care for Macy’s big clumsy ass and I thought this whole album was a dumb idea, but her and Dre’s chemistry was workin’ better than Hersey Hawkin’s J in the ‘90. Go figure. Ultimately though, this album suffers from serious identity crisis. It’s like a confused set of show tunes or any family show in Vegas performed by an estranged couple. Think Siegfried & Roy fresh off a quarrel…well, before that big ass cat gnawed away on Roy like he was some bomb Myrtle Beach taffy.
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FIYA NBA Ranks: #9 |
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As
you can see from the photo accompanying my review of Outkast’s
new album Idlewild, the first
thing that crossed my mind when I found out the greatest group
in the history of Hip-Hop was going to do a soundtrack for a
movie, which featured music based on their characters was, “WHOLY
LORD, THESE NIGGAS GONNA FUCK UP THEIR LEGACY LIKE GARTH BROOKS!