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Andre 3000, this is an intervention · by Sach O
I have had it with Andre 3000’s bullshit. Now Outkast may very well be my favorite Hiphop duo that’s still rapping at a relevant level (when they rap that is) but enough is enough. I’ll meet them halfway on Idlewild by skipping the useless skits and accepting the fact that they’ve decided to become a space-pop group. I’ll accept that Big Boi decided that he needs overly lush production and constant R&B hooks to remain “creative” Hell, I’ll even let Andre get by on his blues n’ Prince imitations for the first half of the disc since they’re short and painless. All in all, the album has nine very fun songs even if they make Gnarls Barkley sound rugged and rough by comparison. It even has 3 or 4 more decent ones depending on how much of their self-indulgence you can take, songs with crappy hooks or concepts that I’ll let slide since it’s a film soundtrack of sorts.
But there are 6 absolutely terrible Andre 3000 solo songs/jams on here that are never forgive actions. Simply put the back end of Idlewild is the most embarrassing failure since fellow Badu alumni Common dropped Electric Circus. From the downright insulting Camille-aping of Makes no Sense at all to the interminable funkadelic disaster of Matron Angel to When I look in your eyes, the single most awful song Outkast have ever been associated with, the end of Idlewild basically consists of the Andre pop album we never wanted to hear. Even stuff that could have been passable like The Greatest Show on Earth, Dyin to Live and the (almost) literally interminable Bad Note wear out their welcome in about a minute and then drag on, subjecting the listener to Mr 3000’s whimsy and “creativity”. These songs serve only to prove that Outkast haven’t been a real group in years and to make some of the other material on the album seem less mediocre by comparison. Frankly, the best moments on here would rank as “good” on Stankonia, already not their greatest of releases.
I hope that this one grows on me, I really do. I’ve got it playing on repeat so I can just maybe find some justification for all the terrible decisions made here because the last thing I want to do is diss this album. I’m an Outkast fan first and foremost but this is unacceptable. Either break up and let Big Boi do his thing or patch things up and work together to release a real album because half-hearted protools pop from a band in name only serves only to cheapen the legacy what was once the most exciting duo in Hiphop music.
Comments for "Andre 3000, this is an intervention"
Take That Andre!! SLAP SLAP!!
Sacha… i’m convinced… I’m not going near it..
— Bane Aug 15, 02:23 AM
I gave up on Andre when he decided roses really smelled like poo poo poo and singing was better than rapping. I got tons of hatemail about it but my position on it hasn’t changed one bit – I didn’t like it then and I still don’t like it now. The “be open minded” bullshit doesn’t fly with me – a good rapper becoming a mediocre wannabe-Prince is not a good trade.
— DJ Flash Aug 21, 11:47 PM