Andre 3000 Puts The Cool Back In School
For many baby boomers (and their kids, too), hearing a few notes of a simple piano theme instantly brings back memories of the popular "Peanuts" animated specials from the 1960s.
Outkast's Andre 3000 is a big fan of jazz pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi, who wrote the theme. He hopes that someday the music from his own Cartoon Network series "Class Of 3000," now in its second season, will have the same effect on its fans.
"'Class of 3000' has a sound where, if you're in the kitchen and you're cooking and your children are playing, you may hear a 'Class of 3000' song and you know it," said the musician, whose real name is Andre Benjamin.
Benjamin is co-executive producer of the show and voices the character of pop star Sunny Bridges, who leaves the rat race of the music business and ends up teaching a group of kids at a performing arts school in Atlanta.
Each episode includes a music video of a song drawn by a guest animator. The song is inspired by the episode's plot which Benjamin says gives him flexibility to experiment with different styles of music.
Listen: "Class of 3000 Theme Song" (Windows Media)
"It's usually the kids playing themselves out of a situation or its pertaining to the story line," he said. "Sometimes they're moving really fast and jazz works with this, sometimes it's really solemn and thoughtful and classical works for that. When they want to have fun and it's a party atmosphere, funk music works for that, and when Eddie has the blues, the blues works for that!"
Cartoon Network and LaFace/Zomba Records recently released a compilation of songs from the show titled: "Class Of 3000: MUSIC Volume One." It's Benjamin's aim to create music that will appeal to kids' fine-tuned sense of what's cool.
Listen: "Oh Peanut" (Windows Media)
"Because you're dealing with a younger audience you can't be too over their heads," he added. "But I think when we approach the music, we try and make sure it's not so 'kid-y' either. I think the music kind of has to be pushing forward a little bit."
Much of the show is drawn from Benjamin's life, with the character of Lil' D representing him as a child. The Atlanta native said that it was very important to him to show his partner Tommy Lynch, the series' animators and creative team around his hometown.
"I showed them the two sides of Atlanta from my childhood. I grew up in the ghetto part of Atlanta, the projects, but my mom was clever enough to send me to the school across town, the best school in Atlanta at the time," he said. "So I'm going to school with the mayor's kids, the commissioner's children, people from all countries. So they said, 'Oh, this is great. This is what the show needs to be.'"
Benjamin was referring to the Sutton Middle School in swanky Buckhead, which he attended along with stylish hip-hop entertainer Fonsworth Bentley. He says the international atmosphere of the school, including the afternoon tea served by his Anglophile drama coach Ina Gottlieb, influenced both artists.
"Across the street from the school was an equestrian farm, so it's kind of that whole thing was in us as kids," he said. "Riding to school we passed by mansions and chateaus so we've seen it growing up."
To make sure the show appealed to kids, Benjamin assembled a crack team of experts: his 9-year-old son Seven and his friends.
"They were actually watching while we were making it before the premieres so they saw some of the rough copies, some of the rough drawings and asked a lot of questions," he said. "They heard the [theme] music before anyone heard it so they were like my test group. He loved the song and his friends were all jamming in the car and moving around dancing."
Seven, whose mother is Benjamin's ex-girlfriend Erykah Badu, heard the full-length version of the song and was quick to point out to his father that it would need an edit.
"My son said, 'I got a little note. I think it's too long to be a theme song. On cartoons, they only last about 15 to 30 seconds.' We were going to cut it down anyway, but we took it to heart," Benjamin laughed.
The experience of working on the show in many styles of music for a new audience is influencing Benjamin's current projects.
"For sure, it's almost like if you broaden your musical horizons you almost know what you can do, and it's hard to go back in a way, which is good, it's growth," he said.
Asked if he'd ever try to get an instrumental track on commercial radio, Benjamin said "I think so. I really think so. I actually have a song, well I can't speak on it right now, but I have a song coming out really soon that will go in that direction."
His album projects include his own solo set, and an album he's producing by his musical collaborator on "Class of 3000," pianist Kevin Kendrick.
"He's an older gentleman and his music knowledge — he's kind of like the perfect partner. He's like a library, and he knows all styles of music, but what he's focusing on in his album is kind of a bluesy country thing. He's interesting, I tell ya," he said.
But it will be a while before another Outkast album is released.
"I'm working on an Andre 3000 album right now and [Outkast collaborator] Big Boi, he's doing a solo album as well," he said. "And then we may after those two albums do another Outkast album, but who knows when that will come?"
He also hopes to take the "Class of 3000" on the road with a stage show, but he says it'll be a lot different from similar productions.
"That's coming really soon and I think the way we're going to do it is going to be in a special way," he said. "The parents will be able to enjoy it as much as the kids, probably more."
In addition to the stage, Benjamin is looking to bring the show to the big screen. "We've actually been in talks about a feature. I'm excited about that. It all depends on how people take the second season. It's all about Cartoon Network thinking that it's going to continue to make money," he said.
By Judy Faber