The film's working title was Speakerboxxx, after half of Outkast's 2003 double album "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below", corresponding to solo albums from either half of the duo (Speakerboxxx for Big Boi, The Love Below for André 3000), though there are still songs featuring both on the album such as "Ghettomusick" and "Roses".
Ultimately, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below features in the film's soundtrack as much as the later Idlewild companion album does (six songs each).
Ultimately, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below features in the film's soundtrack as much as the later Idlewild companion album does (six songs each).
The film was originally written as a music video. The success of the album "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" encouraged Outkast to expand it into a feature film. It was going to premiere on HBO, but was ultimately released in theaters.
Paula Patton openly admitted that she's not a singer. She sang a few riffs for her audition, but aside from the scene in which her character and Percival rehearse for her first stage performance, she didn't sing in the movie. Debra Killings did the rest of her character's singing.
Idlewild is an unincorporated community in Yates Township, located just east of Baldwin in southeast Lake County, a rural part of northwestern lower Michigan. During the first half of the 20th century, it was one of the few resorts in the country where African-Americans were allowed to vacation and purchase property, before discrimination was outlawed in 1964 through the Civil Rights Act of 1964.