OutKast Gets 'Idlewild'
OutKast is one of music's biggest stories of the past decade. The hip-hop duo's last album "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" won the 2004 Grammy for album of the year.
How do they top that? With their first movie together, a highly-stylized big screen musical set in the South during prohibition called "Idlewild."
OutKast is André Benjamin and Antwan A. Patton, better known to their legions of fans as André 3000 and Big Boi.
The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith chatted with the duo on Friday, Aug. 25, about the genesis of their new movie.
"Myself, Big Boi and Brian Barber, the writer and director of the film, we've been trying to make movies since our third album, 'Aquemini,' and it just never came about," said Benjamin. "Then after the album 'Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,' we had these two video treatments that were the basis of what the movie is right now and Brian Barber took that and turned it into a great script and movie."
"Idlewild," is set against the backdrop of a 1930s speakeasy and Benjamin and Patton play old friends and struggling singers. As their lives advance, they face a situation where they have to take over the "Church," a club that is anything but holy.
"The church is the club that is anything but a church," said Patton. "There's everything going down there, from booze running to gambling. Some gangsters come to town, girls come around, things go down."
Just like their characters in the film, OutKast clearly makes music together, but how much of this script mirrors their real lives?
"The film was written by Brian Barber. He's known us for years, closely," said Benjamin. "It wasn't our decision to say, OK, we want to be in scenes together, you know. He just thought it would be clever to do it."
"We're most definitely close like we were since 10th grade, still making music together — to squash all the rumors and stuff like that," he says. "We do go through it as individuals. It's love, it's love, like high school friends."
Reviews so far have been good (Hollywood Reporter called it and "odd but entertaining musical with a distinctly OutKast overcast") and many are surprised at Patton's energetic performance.
"They kind of had me pigeon holed as the pimp, the player, the panderer thing for a long time," says Patton, who also starred in 2005's "XXX: State of the Union." "It was fun. I wanted to put my best foot forward and be all I could be."
The duo says that while they make plans for future endeavors, sometimes things just evolve naturally.
"There's so many other things we can do. Right now, we've been blessed to have a great career, 12, 13 years strong," said Benjamin. "Right now, whatever happens is extracurricular. There's so many things we can do. We may have plans and we may let God take over as he always does."
Famed Broadway choreographer Hinton Battle worked his magic on the dance scenes. But Benjamin said that "(Battle) came and had (dancing) girls come in and let us add our own flavor to it. It's outstanding."
The film also has lots of references to music legend Cab Calloway, who, according to Benjamin, "was one of the first rappers, hip-hop artist to start rapping. It's kind of goes back full circle," he said
"Idlewild" hits theaters Aug. 25.