If you are age 25 or younger, you probably don’t realize that at one time CeeLo Green was one of best MC’s in the world. Yes, the guy who once wore a suit made out of flowers and sang in it on national television could go bar-for-bar with any rapper out there.
As a member of Goodie Mob, CeeLo enjoyed some moderate success and lyrical respect, but was usually overshadowed by fellow Dungeon Family members Outkast. Where ‘Kast made music that made you “throw your hands in the ayer,” Goodie Mob made music that made you look out your window. It wasn’t until he broke off from Goodie Mob, rapped less and sang more that Hip-Hop fans at large started begging him to return to his roots as an MC.
Ever since his 2002 solo debut Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections blurred the lines between Hip-Hop and whatever-the-f*ck-else (a year before Andre 3000’s The Love Below), CeeLo has been making music by his own rules. His 2004 follow up album Cee-Lo Green is the Soul Machine continued to push musical boundaries and his 2006 link up with Danger Mouse to form Gnarles Barkley took those boundaries and fed them to the wolves. By the time 2010’s The Lady Killer dropped the words “CeeLo” and “Hip-Hop” were like oil and water. Even Goodie Mob’s 2014 reunion album Age Against the Machine didn’t give us not one full CeeLo 16.
While it’s been quite some time sense we’ve heard CeeLo utter anything close to a rap verse, we don’t doubt that at the drop of a dime, he could still rip your favorite rapper to shreds. You don’t spit verses like the ones he did on “Goodie Bag” or “In Da Wind” and lose that skill forever. As a singer/songwriter, CeeLo is one of the best, so that has to mean that his pen is still sharp and ready for battle.
Until the day comes that CeeLo returns to emceeing and takes a small break from “singing like Adele” [2 Chainz words, not ours], check out this list of the times he proved that he’s probably still better than your favorite rapper.
Photo: WEEN.com
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CeeLo Wonders Why That Gate Is Up (1995)
On Goodie Mob’s seminal hit “Cell Therapy” CeeLo articulates what people living in Every Hood, U.S.A. were thinking was happening, but was not sure. The song itself was inspired by a time when Busta Rhymes visited Goodie Mob in the studio and shared the book Behold A Pale Horse with them. From there CeeLo and Goodie Mob questioned everything about the government and many listeners to the idea of a New World Order for the first time. CeeLo verse outlined conspiracies in place to move Black people into poorer communities and keep them under control. The verse also posed one of the most profound queries in Hip-Hop history, “Every now and then, I wonder if the gate was put up to keep the crime out or keep our *ss in.”
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Ceelo Is Bringing God To A Gun Fight (2003)
On one of the most slept-on songs in the Outkast (read: Big Boi solo) catalog, “Reset,” CeeLo ends the track spitting pure poetry:
I awaken to sunlight that’s beyond bright
This day will be done right
There is a war, just waiting on the other side of the door
But I’ll be bringing God to the gunfight
Can’t live forever, so have some fun, right
Life’s a bowl of candy, you can have one, right
You can handle if tomorrow never comes, right
You’ll get used to singin if only for one night
But I intend to raise two daughters and a son right
And I couldn’t have wrote this if I was hopeless
And see I focus to provoke this
So open wide for my opinionated opus
Stop playin Go Fish, but not below this
Before I go, I thought that you all should know this
Recognize and realize before any regretting
Before you relapse, perhaps you’ll consider resetting
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CeeLo Tells Aspiring Emcees The Truth About The Industry (1997)
DJ Muggs’ Soul Assassins album was largely known for Dr. Dre and B-Real’s “Puppet Master” with much of the rest of the album becoming an afterthought. But if you did buy the album and listen to Goodie Mob’s song that comes on right after, you heard perhaps one of CeeLo’s greatest verses. Line for line, ‘Lo describes the rise and fall of the new rapper of the moment who gets caught up in their hype:
What’s said is meant to the fullest extent
No nonsense because my conscience wouldn’t be content
But just a little wealth, a little fame
But your mind-frame will keep you living the same
And it’s a shame that niggas would settle with the ghetto
Huh, hoes and some clothes that ain’t makin what you suppose
Let your eyes close to what your contract shows
And fine print, they gotta get back every cent you spent
You content cuz, you do what everybody does
The industry that change you from the person you was
Ceelo Flips The Script (2002)
Some Goodie Mob fans were shocked when they heard CeeLo’s verse on Trick Daddy’s hit “In Da Wind.” The rapper who was mostly known for spitting like a Southern preacher went into Southern player mode and spat about hoes, shows and bankrolls. Aside from showing off his lyrical dexterity, you couldn’t deny how nimble ‘Lo was over the beat.
CeeLo Channels Slick Rick and Spazzes Out (1995)
Lil Wayne brought new attention to the epicness of CeeLo’s verse on “Goodie Bag” in a recent interview. CeeLo anchored the classic song with a verse that seemed to only gain momentum as it continued. He even managed to weave in a Slick Rick line in the process. But what many don’t know about CeeLo’s verse on 1995’s “Goodie Bag” is that it was originally a freestyle he spat months prior on Atlanta college radio station 88.5 FM in an episode of the Rhythm & Vibes show where Goodie Mob and The Roots were both guests on the same night. Former Roots member Rahzel beatboxed while Goodie Mob, Black Thought and Malik B freestyled. Audio of this epic exchange was once unearthed and circulated online a few years back, but it has now disappeared. You can probably thank that infamous 2010 FBI shakedown of the internet for that.
CeeLo Is Just Playing With Us (2004)
“Me and God, same thing.” CeeLo and Ludacris are probably the only two rappers who could hop on this skitzo Organized Noize beat. The flow patterns on this song are expert level.
CeeLo Has Answers For Sway (early-2000s)
Even when CeeLo freestyles he drops gems, real ones. In an undated appearance on Sway and King Tech’s The Wake Up Show where he probably could have just spat something for fun, CeeLo spits three minutes of American history where he raps from the perspective of a White supremacist and details how they have used oppression and violence to make Black life in America a living hell. The unnamed freestyle/poem has grown to become known as “The White Boys Plan.”
CeeLo Refuses Limitation (1998)
CeeLo was making songs cry long before Jay Z. One of CeeLo’s greatest qualities as an MC is that he is able to rap about the struggles of the common man with vivid imagery. He turns his voice into the voice of the person that he’s rapping about. The best example of this comes on “I Refuse Limitation” from Goodie Mob’s Still Standing album. At a time when Southern rappers weren’t known or respected for lyricism, CeeLo’s verse on this song was recognized as a “Notable Quotable” in The Source.
Well I woke up this mornin with the same frustration from situations like these
Got a call about some work from one of them temporary agencies
No high school diploma or any college degrees
I can’t enlist but they’ll draft me if there’s a war overseas
Oh please
Of course I can slice some OZs
But see I’m one of those aspirin MCs
And uh bills are due so at times I’m doubtful and everyone disagrees
But I’d rather struggle on my feet than to live on my knees
So my uniform tight workin all night at Mickey D’s
Got about 90 dollars and some change after the government
Get they fees
These minimum wages ain’t enough to feed my babies
Purposely these limitations on black folks opportunities
So I quit cuz I’m tired of being one of those overworked
Underpaid employees
Stop carin at all went on and did a few small burglaries
It seems like my faith done turned into forgotten memories
And I ain’t gettin away with nothing because I know He always sees
But see right now I need to see how I can get this here dope sold
I done stuffed in my pocket as many rocks as it can hold
They gonna get high so I’m gonna get my money even though it’s freezin cold
Now how many times you done heard this story told?
Believe it or not, there’s some very intelligent junkiesBut dependencies is eating away at they souls like disease
Anyone can turn into somebody who covets and envies
Unequal economics can easily make you some enemies
And the crime rate never drops so the cops ride around in threes
I knew he would have killed me if I did anything but freeze
They found the rest of the dope in some nearby shrubberies
In a dimlit room being questioned by these authorities
And they gave me some time in correctional facilities
And now my woman’s gotta take on a man’s responsibilities
CeeLo Was “Crazy” Before Gnarles Barkley (1994)
CeeLo was formerly introduced to Hip-Hop fans with his scene-stealing opening verse on Outkast’s 1994 PSA “Git Up, Git Out.” Twelve years before he sang about losing his mind on “Crazy,” CeeLo really did lose his mind on this song and talked to himself the whole time. Crazy thing about it, he talked you as well if you listened hard enough.
CeeLo Is $20 Away From Being On The Street (1995)
Some people are afraid to even debate this in front of strangers, but, it can be said that CeeLo may be a better rapper (and singer) than his equally-talented and revered Dungeon Family brother Andre 3000. For as much music they’ve touched, they’ve only appeared together on songs as rappers a handful of times. Soul Food‘s “Thought Process” marks the second time behind “Git Up, Git Out” the two blessed the same track. Where ‘Dre closes the song with the beat dropping out, it feels like the beat stopped for CeeLo’s verse before his too because the pain in his voice penetrates your soul to the point that you really can’t hear much else. Before ‘Dre rapped about having a hit song but still being “neck to neck” with people living “check to check” on 1996’s “Elevators,” CeeLo can be heard here complaining about not knowing where his next meal is coming from even though he has a video on TV.
CeeLo Spits Gospel On A Rap Song (1997)
CeeLo’s guest appearance on Outkast’s 1997 single “In Due Time” gave many of us a glimpse into the artist he was bound to become. He saaaaaang the hook to set the tone for the record and delivered a rap verse that used a Gospel music-like cadence. If you were to take his vocals and put it over a church organ, it would become a standard your choir would perform at Sunday service.
CeeLo Willfully Whips Wonderful Words Wizardly (2002)
You’ve got to be f*cking kidding right? On “Big Ole Words” CeeLo tells us why he doesn’t feel like rapping anymore by rapping like a man possessed. His command of the English language masterful alliteration on this song is impeccable. The song acts a bittersweet farewell to CeeLo rapping full-time when he ends the track asking, “now can I do my sh*t?”
