Cee-Lo :
Cee-Lo Green Is The Soul Machine

Release Date: 3 March2004

Reviewed By: Usman Sajjad

1. Intro

2. Soul Machine

3. The Art Of Noise - feat, Pharrell

4. Living Again

5. I'll Be Around - feat, Timaland

6. The One - feat, Jazze Pha, T.I.

7. My Kind Of People - feat, Jazze Pha, Menta Malone

8. Childz Play - feat Ludacris

9. I Am Selling Soul

10. All Day Love Affair

11. Evening News - feat Chazzie, Sir Cognac The Conversation.

12. Scrap Metal - feat, Big Rube, G Rock

13. Glockappella

14. When We Were Friends

15. Sometimes

16. Let's Stay Together - feat, Pharrell

17. Die Trying

18. What Don't You Do? (Outro)

Cassidy - Split Personality
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Cee-Lo, former member of the Goodie Mob, is back with his new album 'Cee-Lo Green is the Soul Machine', the follow-up album to his March 2002 release of 'Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections'. This album was praised for its originality and unique sound, but it was quickly forgotten due to its lack of sales and artistic presence.

Cee-Lo's latest record however, treads the line perfectly, allowing him to play by his own terms, while maintaining the kind of strong hooks, production, and songs that pretty much anyone can get into. Most importantly, Cee-Lo uses his mixture of gospel, rap and R&B to give a unique, genuine effort.

On his sophomore offering, Cee-Lo collaborates with several hot producers such as rap heavyweight Timbaland, The Neptunes, Jazze Pha (who produced Murphy Lee's ‘Luv Me Baby’), DJ Premier (Gangstarr's producer), and appearances from Ludacris, T.I., and Pharrell.

The first release from this album, 'I'll Be Around', is produced by innovative Virginia producer Timbaland, and sees Cee-Lo display his unique 'husky' rap voice and delivering a touch of simplicity to his rap: "How can I possibly, be inconspicuous/ When my flow is f****** ridiculous/ That's right an accent, see I'm from the South/ Where some of the most beautiful things come out my mouth".

'The One' is a more R&B based record, featuring Jazze Pha singing the vocals, while the highly anticipated Southern rapper T.I joins Cee-Lo to add the rhymes to the record. The Organized Noise-produced ‘Childz Play’ sees Ludacris steal the show on this track. Cee-Lo is creatively at his best on ‘Sometimes’, a brilliant poem that challenges his audience’s thought process, digging deeper into his soul to produce very sound lyrics.

However, the track 'I Am Selling Soul' simply confuses me, as Cee-Lo wastes his time talking over a beat that changes from a jazz/soul sound to a pounding drum beat. Then Cee-Lo immediately switches his focus to provide his sunny vocals on 'When We Were Friends'. The Neptunes add an impressive contribution to tracks such as ‘Lets Stay Together’ and ‘Art of Noise’, in which we hear the soul side to The Neptunes’ beats. Other solid production comes on ‘Scrap Metal’ produced by the legendary DJ Premier.

I respect Cee-Lo's effort at giving his album so many categories to be listed under. Cee-Lo's most interesting aspect is his adaptable persona; the way he shifts from a former gun-toting drug dealer to a ladies love to a soulful church preacher. Yet, I don’t think that Cee-Lo has done enough on this album to make enough of an impact on the listener the first few times it’s played, mainly because it possesses a slower feel, which can have its downsides.

Personally, this is not a favorite of mine, as I didn’t like his rhyming on some of the tracks, but for those who like the whole mixture of rap and jazz and Cee-Lo’s vocal talents throughout the album, this may be a good buy.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Top 3 tracks:
5. Ill Be Around
16. Let’s Stay Together
10. All Day Love Affair

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