Zoot shoot: Hip-hop duo OutKast stars in Jazz Age-set musical
By Stephen Schaefer
Boston Herald Entertainment Reporter
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
With $30 million in sales, OutKast reigns as music kings.
But when it came to conquering Hollywood, it took the duo years to get its original musical “Idlewild” to the screen.
A unique blend of contemporary hip-hop and 1930s Hollywood, “Idlewild” (opening Friday) boasts an original OutKast score (in stores now) as well as the composer-actors - Andre 3000 (Andre Benjamin) and Big Boi (Antwan A. Patton) - starring in this Georgia-set gangster tale.
Benjamin is Percival, the shy piano player/composer who works in his father’s funeral home by day and pounds the keys at a gin and jazz joint called the Church at night. Patton’s Rooster, a married ladies’ man, manages the club. Things get crazy when a gangster (played by Oscar-nominated “Hustle & Flow” star Terrence Howard) decides to rub them out.
Bryan Barber, a veteran director of OutKast videos, originally conceived “Idlewild” as an HBO project. His vision is of a real yet fantastic musical world.
Benjamin, who co-starred in “Be Cool,” said, “I’m not Quentin Tarantino or nothing like that, but the reason why musicals don’t work that well now is because people are always gonna do the music of old - and people are not listening to that music now. So you want to do the music of now, to make it make sense.
“Bryan (set) it in the ’30s, because style-wise he knew that it would take the audience to a whole other world. It’s a great choice. In the times we’re living in, I guess, especially as black people, you don’t get to see people with class, honestly.”
OutKast is known for its diverse musical influences and “Idlewild” continues that tradition.
“That was like an advantage we had, because we were never biased to one particular type of music,” Patton said. “We listen to rock, jazz, blues, pop, country, you know, hip-hop and the whole nine yards. We just had a chance to do what we wanted to do. It is the ’30s, but we can still satisfy fans by doing what we do best.”
Benjamin added, “We knew that it was 1930s, but at the same time we’re OutKast, and we’ve got a responsibility to live up to our fans. So we had to make sure that it was modern as well.”
Yet with its period setting, raw sex, language and violence, the film was a tough sell.
“I think it actually had to be made because of all the disrespect against us,” Benjamin said.
Years of work faces the final hurdle at the box office.
“If nobody comes, we just know we had a great time doing it. And somebody will be influenced by it. And this just ain’t no (expletive) interview answer,” Benjamin said, and then laughed
http://theedge.bostonherald.com/movi...94&format=text
Linear Mode
