Sir Gnarls

My guy Phil chose Gnarls Barkley for his June 2006 Artist of the Month. Philthy has fine taste in music, except for his one weakness: he's a little too in love with bands that fit this pattern "The (insert noun)s". He reviewed the Gnarls album St. Elsewhere here, in a concise, clear manner. Although I like most of the album, this post will be negative, and rightfully so. But first, enjoy this entertaining video:



Gnarls Barkley is formed by the duo of vocalist Cee-Lo Green and producer Danger Mouse. You can read about Danger Mouse here. I will tell you about Cee-Lo, things that wanna-be-down Rolling Stone writers don't dare to declare.

Cee-Lo was/is a member of one of my favorite rap groups while I was growing up as a racist teenager, Goodie Mob. They were part of a larger group called the Dungeon Family from Atlanta, Georgia, along with Outkast.

Goodie Mob's first album was called Soul Food. Mixed in with poignant, honest lyrics, such as those found on "Guess who?" and "Soul Food" was paranoid, illogical delusions one would expect to find Louis Farrakhan or your average tenured Ethnic Studies "professor" spewing. Goodie Mob used terms like "crackers" and referred to white people as "devils". They spoke of a new world order, and a "system" that created all of their problems. It made total sense back then, but then again, I was fourteen.

When I lived in my parents basement last year, I happened to catch Cee-Lo's daughter, Sierra, on MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen. This is a TV show that displays fantastically-wealthy parents lavishing their child with a "sweet sixteen" party that outspends most African nations' GNP. It appears Cee-Lo overcame the "system" he whined about before. I hope all the devils buying his new album are happy for him.