It landed at No. 25 on SPIN’s Best Albums of 2006. But upon Idlewild’s release, Pitchfork’s Jess Harvell stated: “Initially, it’s thrilling in the way that any spectacle is” citing “exhaustion” at the 79-minute mark. In 2023, Rolling Stone included it at No. 46 on their list of 50 “genuinely horrible” albums by great artists. Perhaps expecting it to be a controversial choice, writer Andy Greene preemptively asked any reader who would disagree with its inclusion when the last time was that they actually listened to it.
It couldn’t have helped that three years before Idlewild, the duo’s double album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, hit big at the Grammys, and would eventually go on to become certified 13x Platinum, spawning megahits like “Hey Ya!” and “The Way You Move.” Twenty years later, and having thoroughly appreciated Andre 3000’s flute-fueled solo debut New Blue Sun in 2023, we understand that these guys are built differently—and wouldn’t want to recreate astounding commercial success.
So, when they released their film Idlewild, a Prohibition-era musical (when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was the highest grossing film of the year) and it wasn’t a commercial success, Idlewild the album (with absolutely no “Hey Ya!” replicas) was setting its audience up for a surprise.
While I thought it was absurd to include Idlewild on a list that also included such crimes against music as Metallica’s St. Anger and the Clash’s Cut The Crap, it had been a long time since I’d actually put the album on. And in the time since I last listened to it, I had undoubtedly listened to Outkast’s more beloved works like “B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad),” “Miss Jackson,” and “Elevators (Me And You)” dozens of times. With that in mind, it seemed worth wondering if Idlewild really is just a dreary final outing by a duo capable of far greater things.
And yet, when I did put it on again, I was immediately reminded that this album is better than the shadow of its 2006 reception. Lead single “Mighty O,” driven by a sample of “Minnie The Moocher,” starts the album on an energetic note with Andre 3000’s delivery sounding as confident and propulsive as ever. Even stronger is the college marching-band stomp of “Morris Brown,” which carries a melody similar to “The Whole World” but with a much grander arrangement.
While the album itself debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, neither of these singles garnered much chart success, peaking at No. 77 and No. 95. “Idlewild Blue (Don’tchu Worry ’bout Me),” the third single, is a fun bluesy tune that thrives by gradually building on top of a memorable guitar groove. Later, there’s “N2u,” a song that recalls Prince at his most flirtatious and would also be right at home alongside “I’ll Call Before I Come” or “We Luv Deez Hoez” on Stankonia. If you haven’t listened to Idlewild in a while, it’s surprising how many of the tracks easily could have fit on other, more beloved Outkast albums.
Idlewild is also a strong showcase of both Andre 3000 and Big Boi’s experimental tendencies, as heard on tracks like “Chronomentrophobia” and “Call The Law.” The former is a meditative number about the fear of clocks and the feeling that time is slipping away. While 3000 undercuts the song with humor (“got to funk ya now”), it’s still a deeply revealing song about the fear of succumbing to complacency. The latter is a collaboration between Big Boi and an up-and-coming Janelle Monae, and it’s a thrilling old-timey piano rave-up which reminds that both members of Outkast are capable of effortlessly shifting through genres as they see fit.
Some 2006 listeners likely couldn’t adjust to Idlewild’s dramatic differences from the group’s more popular (or better-reviewed) work. “Hollywood Divorce,” a collaboration with Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg is five-and-a-half minutes of conventional mid-2000s hip-hop. Additionally, the frequent interludes of dialogue from the Idlewild movie released at the same time don’t add much to the proceedings, and function as more of an inside joke than anything else.
Finally, album closer “A Bad Note” is nearly nine minutes of electric guitar over an ominous piano riff. It’s an astounding showcase of Andre 3000’s musical abilities, but it’s a standout ending that potentially left some listeners confused or, in the case of Pitchfork’s Jess Harvell, “exhausted”.
Ultimately, many contradictions can be true when it comes to Idlewild; it’s the “worst” Outkast album by some listener’s standards—from a duo that is known as one of the most important successful hip-hop artists of all time. Idlewild, which has now achieved Platinum status, is the last chapter of one installment of their story. Love it or hate it, it’s a testament to their uncompromised artistry.
