CEE-LO GREEN IS THE SOUL MACHINE

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Personnel includes: Cee-Lo, Pharrell, Jazze Pha, T.I., Ludacris, Big Rube, G-Rock, Timbaland, Menta Malone (rap vocals). Producers include: Traxx, The Neptunes, Thomas Callaway, Timabaland, Jazze Pha. Recorded at Darp Studios and Stankonia Recording, Atlanta, Georgia; Eagle Sound Studios, Doraville, Georgia; Hovecraft Recording Studios, Virginia Beach, Virginia; Criteria-Hit Factory, Miami, Florida. A hip-hop artist perpetually swerving from a high-pitched rap style entirely his own to a sultry croon just to the left of Al Green, Cee-Lo layers incredibly original poetry over mesmerizing beats of all strains. Formerly a member of Atlanta's grossly under-appreciated Goodie Mob, Cee-Lo revealed the depth of his talent in 2002 with the glorious, complex, and aptly titled CEE-LO GREEN & HIS PERFECT IMPERFECTIONS. CEE-LO GREEN...IS THE SOUL MACHINE retains the wonderful unpredictability of its predecessor, but it finds a stronger sense of focus within such an eclectic range. He opens Gil Scott-Heronesque "Sometimes" with the easy observation "ya know, sometimes I wanna rap, sometimes I wanna sing," a Zen-like reflection that sums up Cee-Lo's intriguing contradictions. On other tracks, he can cruise along in a Sly & the Family Stone style on "My Kind of People" or flow on the socially conscious yet Dirty South-like "Scrap Metal" or even rail against the music industry on the country-tinged "Die Trying." Cee-Lo's brain clearly races along from idea to idea at speeds well exceeding normal limits, but he has found a way to rein it in for a fantastic, prismatic album--at one angle an avant-garde experiment, and at another a funky pop record.

• Genre: R&B
• Format: CD
• Released: 03/02/2004