2nd March - Cee-Lo Green's ...Is the Soul Machine

Artist – Album: Cee-Lo Green – Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine

Released:  2^nd March 2004

Sounds Like: Al Green meets Outkast

Cee-Lo Green’s career has been anything but straightforward. From his beginnings with the critically acclaimed Southern Rap outfit Goodie Mob (think Outkast with less commercial clout), to his appearance alongside Lauryn Hill on one of the best songs on the monster hit Santana album Supernatural; from his teaming up with Danger Mouse to create Gnarls Barkley, whose ‘Crazy’ created history in becoming the first single to reach number one in the UK from downloads alone, to his 2010 weirdo solo hit ‘Fuck You!’, success has always been part of his remit. Yet most people continue to regard him as something of a one hit wonder, if they’re aware of him at all.

This, his second album, is virtually ignored by the general public, despite being featured contributions from a host of the biggest hitters in hip hop at the turn of the millennium. Pharrell, Ludacris and T.I. are amongst those to take turns on the mic and, behind the scenes, production superstars such as Timbaland and The Neptunes share their smarts. The result, unsurprisingly, is a fantastic amalgamation of southern hip hop, R&B and soul. Green has the ability to switch between flowing rap, evoking images of a slower Big Boi, to a Bill Withers-esque croon and peppers the album with these two extremes and everything in between. Highlights such as ‘The Art of Noise’, ‘I’ll Be Around’ and the sunny ‘My Kind of People’ deserve special mention. Eighteen tracks may be slightly overegging it but it’s still a great achievement and one which deserves the success of his other works.

Albumaday... rating:   8/10

1.       Intro – 0:23

2.       Soul Machine – 1:40

3.       The Art of Noise (feat. Pharrell) – 3:46

4.       Living Again – 3:37

5.       I’ll Be Around (feat. Timbaland) – 3:41

6.       The One (feat. Jazze Pha & T.I.) – 4:43

7.       My Kind of People (feat. Jazze Pha & Menta Malone)– 3:54

8.       Childz Play (feat. Ludacris) – 3:54

9.       I Am Selling Soul – 4:16

10.   All Day Love Affair – 4:12

11.   Evening Newz (feat. Chazzie & Sir Cognac the Conversation) – 4:12

12.   Scrap Metal (feat. Big Rube & G-Rock) – 4:40

13.   Glockappella – 5:21

14.   When We Were Friends – 3:43

15.   Sometimes – 5:04

16.   Let’s Stay Together (feat. Pharrell) – 3:54

17.   Die Trying – 4:05

18.   What Don’t You Do? (outro) – 0:20 

Listen to ‘My Kind of People (feat. Jazze Pha & Menta Malone)’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcAlgHKz1qU