UNITED KINGDOM: 'Outkast' duo - Andre 3000 and Big Boi - use a London landmark to launch their lastest album, 'Idlewild'

It gives a whole new definition to 'surround sound' - Hip hop duo 'Outkast' made music history on Wednesday (July 25) when they used the London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel, to launch their new album 'Idlewild'. Outkast played out their new tracks simultaneously through twenty-eight observation pods on the Eye, briefly turning the landmark wheel into a gigantic and most unique sound system. André 3000 and Big Boi (real names André Benjamin and Antwan Patton), who make up 'Outkast', are known for hits such as 'Hey Ya!', 'The way you Move' and 'So Fresh So Clean' and are the first ever music act to launch their album through the London Eye's PA system. It was the first time in the Eye for the two, André 3000 bringing his son, Seven, along for the ride. "Kind of trippy y'know, because you're going around for thirty minutes and you're listening to the music and you're seeing London in this beautiful rare form at night y'know with the light twinkling and all that type of stuff and it was lovely, dig it," André 3000 said. The quirky duo will also take to the screen with two lead roles in an upcoming musical, also called 'Idlewild'. The movie is directed by Bryan Barber, who has collaborated with Outkast on several music videos in the past. The movie, set in prohibition era Southern America, features music from the new album, which was developed around filming. "Some songs were done before the movie was shot, some songs were done while the movie was being shot and a lot were done after the movie was shot," explained André 3000. "But they all kind of pertain to the movie, we understood that it was a 1930's period piece but we also understood it was an Outkast album so I mean it dons' all sound like retro 1930, it sounds new and fresh, we're kind of mixing up the two." 'Idlewild' will be the first outing for the two since their multi-Platinum album 'Speakerboxxx/The Love Below', which in itself was not so much an 'Outkast' product as a double CD featuring solo albums from each of the artists. "Last album was like a frog, where you dissect it down the middle, you know you can go on the inside, see what's going on, know what I'm saying. This time we closed the frog up real good and his back to that monster we call Outkast y'know?" said Big Boi. "It's 18-20 songs, everything brand new, 80 minutes worth of music. We love the fans so we wanted to give them a little but of everything. We could have made another double CD, but we just kept it on one single disc for the movie, and hey man, hope you all enjoy it." André 3000 and Big Boi partied on after the album launch aboard a 61 metre cruise liner docked at the Eye, with had Outkast's own DJ Spliff working the decks at the bash. The first single from 'Idlewild', 'Mighty-O', will be a download-only release on August 7 followed by a second single, 'Morris Brown', which first physical single release on September 4. The album 'Idlewild' will be released on August 21, and 'Idlewild' the movie is due to open on September 8.

ITN Source | July 27, 2006

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