Gnarls Barkley

soulrocks — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:36:19 +0000

The Gnarls Barkley collaboration didn’t bring producer Danger Mouse to the top of the British charts for the first time, but it did mark his debut as the pilot of a hit record. Mouse, born Brian Burton, first gained the ears of discriminating listeners when he concocted The Grey Album, a bootleg that mashed the vocals from The Black Albumby Jay-Z with music samples courtesy of The White Album by EMI flagship the Beatles. Although the label posted a cease-and-desist order, one of their employees, Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, was one of the impressed, and he hired Burton to create the beats for the second Gorillaz album, Demon Days. Just one year later,Danger Mouse was back in the charts with another collaboration project, Gnarls Barkley, with singer Cee-Lo Green (a solo artist and former member of Atlanta’s Goodie Mob). The pair had met in Atlanta in the late ’90s, and began recording together around the time of a 2003 DM record titled Ghetto Pop Life. A few recordings were passed around and played by many associated with the pair, and eventually one of the leaked tracks, “Crazy,” became a hot property for the download market. It became the first single vaulted to the top of the British charts by digital distribution, and the resulting album, St. Elsewhere, peaked at number one on the album charts. A follow-up was not long in coming; The Odd Couple dropped in early 2008.

www.gnarlsbarkley.com

Cee Lo Green

soulrocks — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:35:55 +0000

Multi-talented and flamboyant, Cee-Lo initially made a name for himself and his trademark crooning as part of pioneering Dirty South rappers Goodie Mob before he broke away in the early 2000s for a colorful solo route. Along with fellow Atlanta rappers OutKast, Goodie Mob laid out the blueprint for the Dirty South style during the mid-’90s, making serious waves with their debut album, Soul Food(1995). Cee-Lo was an important member of the group, often singing the hooks to many of Goodie Mob‘s best songs (e.g., “Cell Therapy,” “Soul Food,” “Black Ice”). But the group didn’t last too long, and after a few releases over a five-year span, Cee-Lo split with Goodie Mob for a promising solo deal with Arista.

In 2006, Cee-Lo enjoyed his greatest success to date as half of Gnarls Barkley, a duo also featuring producer Danger Mouse. “Crazy,” the lead single from St. Elsewhere, the duo’s debut album, was an instant hit in the U.K. and steadily rose to the top of the charts in the U.S. by the end of the summer. The critical acclaim and commercial success of Gnarls Barkley awarded Cee-Lo the most attention he’d ever enjoyed in his career to date. Cee-Lo and DMfollowed it up with a second Gnarls Barkley album, The Odd Couple, in early 2008. A frequent collaborator, Cee-Lo also worked with producer Jazze Pha for Happy Hour, Jazze Pha‘s singing and rapping debut, with Cee-Lo co-producing and sharing vocals. In addition, Cee-Lo teamed up with PlantLife‘s Jack Splash for the Heart Attack project.

soulRocks » Cee Lo Green

Gnarls Barkley

Cee Lo Green