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.
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).
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, Michigan, just east of Baldwin, in southeast Lake County. Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in accommodations, it was one of the few resorts in the country that allowed African-Americans to vacation and purchase property.