I’m crazy. There it is plain and simple with no reference to Gnarls Barkley. This “ATLien” wannabe has literally submerged into the “speakerboxx flow”, as the lyrics “Throw ya neck out..throw ya back out.” repeat and echo thru my living room. I have literally heard every song Outkast has put on the idiot box, I have seen the new movie “Idlewild”, and I own the album sharing the same name (which most won’t notice, isn’t a soundtrack to the movie) and right now, “Life is a Musical”.
Has any of this gone over your head? Perfect. Here is a little help. “Life is a Musical” is a brilliant ballad joining the hits, “Morris Brown” and “Idlewild Blue (Don’t Chu Worry)” on the album, “Idlewild”. The lyrics mentioned before are from the track “The Rooster” featured on the three-time Grammy award winning album, including album of the year 2003, “Speakboxxx/The Love Below”. Coincidently, in “Idlewild”, Antwan Patton (Big Boi) plays Rooster, a family man in the spotlight at the nite club called “Church”. In his first performance of the flick, he shuts the place down with “Bowtie”, another hit from the Grammy winning masterpiece. Also to add, it wasn’t un-imaginative but very exciting to see Rooster perform “The Rooster” later in the movie with, that’s right you guessed it, roosters accompanying him on stage. Also sharing the stage with Rooster is his sidekick and lifetime friend Percival, played by Andre’ Benjamin (3000 to most). Percival is a shy but talented piano player that has a lot on his plate. With the pressures surrounding him in the club, which often make him want to throw up, and his father’s strict values at home, siding completely opposite of where his heart is, the shy pianist provides the storyline with superb talent and a 5 star performance. Also, if I might add, he falls in love with a beautiful songstress, Angel Davenport, played by Paula Patton.
Now, driving the focus away from Outkast, this 30s era hit was made possible by an all-star cast, featuring top notch headliners: Terrance Howard, Ving Rhames, Faizon Love (if you remember, was just here at Prairie View just a little over a year ago), legendary greats Ben Vereen, Cicely Tyson and Patti LaBelle, and newcomer Paula Patton. Three-time Tony winner, Hinton Battle, arranged the high-energy choreography of swing, acrobatics, break dance, and hip-hop fusion. Bryan Barber wrote and directed the movie, and much of his talented work can be found in the majority of Outkast’s music videos.