Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Outkast Decline Appearance on "Oprah"

Contrary to her anti-hip-hop reputation Oprah Winfrey recently invited Atlanta supergroup OutKast to appear on her show in September; but according to recent reports, the duo declined her offer.
According to
Fox News 411 the group's decision had nothing to do with the recent hoopla over Oprah's lack of support for hip-hop artists - but rather a failure on the part of OutKast members Andre 3000 and Big Boi to agree on promotion for their Idlewild film and soundtrack.
As previously reported the Idlewild soundtrack will be released on August 22nd three days prior to the August 25th film release date. The film is set in the 1930's South and co-stars Ving Rhames, Terrence Howard, Cicely Tyson, Patti Labelle, Macy Gray and Ben Vereen.
Fox News 411 reports that Big Boi wanted to use the early September "
Oprah" appearance to promote both projects but Andre 3000 was unwilling to commit to the show. Because "Oprah" doesn't return from summer reruns until September 6th, two weeks after both OutKast projects are released, the delayed promotion might not have mattered much anyway; but the decision to turn down Oprah is fueling rumors that the OutKast group members are now at odds.
"Andre is only interested in acting now," said a source for Fox News 411. "When their deal is over with Arista, he's outta there."
In addition to Idlewild, Benjamin will also appear in the film Revolver which was directed by Guy Ritchie, and
lend his voice to the animated series "Class of 3000" on the Cartoon Network this fall.
Outkast has already released their first Idlewild single "The Mighty O" which features both MC's rapping together over a sample from Cab Calloway classic "Minnie the Moocher."