OutKast tries its hand at the big screen

But Big Boi and Andre are the stars studio execs hope will bring in the fans. Choosing such a fantastical project — a musical from a bygone era — is a definite risk. Barber noted that a more conventional route would have been some kind of buddy flick, “(but) I wanted to do something outside the box. ... that is everything that OutKast is. I think the audience is really looking for refreshing material.”

Big Boi and Andre are taking the same approach with the soundtrack, which mixing big-band stompers with booming rap. Though OutKast has always challenged its listeners — “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” was essentially two solo discs, and Andre’s was mainly singing — there is more risk this time around. The first single, “Mighty O,” hasn’t set charts on fire, and the album is being released as the industry overall continues a downward spiral.

Andre said the success of the last album has freed him from worrying about what’s anticipated for “Idlewild.”

“We’ve been doing it for 11 years, and we’ve won Grammys and we’ve had fans from on the street level to pop level ... we’ve kind of done it,” Andre says.

Yet at the same time, he admits occasional worries that the OutKast’s trademark adventurous sound may not appeal to the masses as much as it used to.

“I just had an idea for a song called ‘Mid-Rap Crisis,’ because I do feel like that,” he chuckles. “Our music don’t sound like what’s going on.”

“We have our own style and that is OutKastStonia,” laughs Big Boi.

That unique style is hatched by increasingly separate partners. The pair typically record separately and even for this interview, spoke separately (travel commitments forced Big Boi to cancel a joint interview).

They share few scenes together in “Idlewild.” People are so used to them working in parallel tandem that there was shock and surprise when the pair was featured rapping — together — on the same track, “Mighty O.”

Sticking together
But both dismiss persistent rumors of a breakup, and seem bewildered that the talk refuses to die despite their denials.

“All them haters would love for us to break up ... sorry haters!” shouts Big Boi with a laugh. “We’re not breaking up. We’re still here, we’ve got a relationship that goes beyond music and film.”

Like adult brothers, they have formed individual lives outside of their family unit. Both are fathers, and each has separate creative interests — Andre is developing a clothing line and has a Cartoon Network series set to debut this fall, along with his acting work. Big Boi is also focusing on acting, an upcoming solo record and his label, Purple Ribbon.

But OutKast is still their focus.

“We’ve had our battles, I mean, we’ve had times where I wanna just completely stop doing it, and he’s still going, and he might not understand a certain decisions I’ve made,” says Andre. “But at the end of the day, you have to remember that me and Big Boi, we were like homeboys, like brothers before we even wrote our first rap.”

As for the next OutKast project, neither can say for sure when that will occur. But whatever shape it takes, they insist the musical and the personal duo of Big Boi and Andre will remain intact.

“We will always make music in some form. Even if, say, if Big Boi goes and does a solo album, I’m still producing on that album,” insists Andre. “I think we will always do OutKast in some kind of way.”

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