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| Photo by Patrice Worthy Big Gipp, Khujo, Cee-Lo and T-Mo |
On their latest album “Age Against the Machine” Goodie Mob leaves no stone unturned. No topic is taboo and as they delve into interracial relationships, the state of hip hop as we know it, individuality and White power there is something old in the new sound. Ask any Goodie Mob fan and they will tell you it’s their commitment to quality music, and determination to stand out from the crowd.
Gipp says the familiar sound is something that Goodie Mob made up of Cee-Lo Green, T-Mo, Khujo and Big Gipp do very well.
“One thing people forget about us is that we gon’ tell the muthafuckin' truth,” Gipp says.
Goodie Mob, the group known for conscious lyrics laid over funky southern beats is back from a 14-year hiatus. The group decided it was time to return to the studio during an impromptu performance during a Nelly concert at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. The reception has been positive says Khujo.
On their latest album Goodie Mob creates a platform where they express some deep seated issues about America and particularly in the Black community. It’s a conversation they say is long overdue. On the track “White Power” Cee-Lo talks about winning over a mainstream audience without becoming an Uncle Tom, “Amy” is an ode to interracial love and “Special Education” is about appreciating what makes you different. T-Mo says the songs on the album have taken on their own meaning.
“The song “Special Education” people think it’s an anti-bullying song we did not make it like that it just came out like that,” T-Mo explains, “All our songs have so many different meanings to do different people, it just depends on what they take away from it”
The album is void of features with the exception of Janelle Monae and T.I. The track “Special Education” featuring Janelle Monae is the most buzzed about and champions being an individual. The message of individuality and originality on the track is desperately needed says Cee-Lo.
“These aspiring artists and children they need to see people be a success at being themselves as opposed to these façades, and characters and lies that are being told, and this poison,” Cee-Lo says describing the current music industry. “I believe Janelle Monae is perfect for the song because she knows a great deal about being very special and very unique and she makes the sacrifices in doing so. Everybody does not appreciate what she has to offer, but she’s extremely talented and she’s extended Dungeon Family and therefore it made sense.”
The group maintains the Southern knack for giving it you straight without being offensive. It’s a talent they honed in on for an album they say is changing the soundscape of Southern hip-hop and Gipp believes the timing couldn’t be better.
“Just like Kendrick came and changed the climate of what the West coast has done. This is what the South needs right now, because right now our message and what we talking about is very redundant,” Big Gipp continues. “We were always called the industry weirdos because we never wanted to fit in with the cool people. When we come back with something like “Special Education” we’re letting you know no other group has left for 14 years and came back and reconnected off top.”
Most of the album was recorded on Port Antoine Jamaica, the Caribbean and completed in Las Vegas where Goodie Mob was doing a show on the Vegas strip. Goodie Mob is the first hip-hop group to have a show on the strip and to them it was sign of greater things to come. Gipp says the gig in Vegas influenced them while making “Age Against the Machine.”
“For us to be the first hip-hop group to have a show on the Vegas strip that was a big accomplishment,” Big Gipp explains. “To accomplish something like that and to be able to go into a studio, all you want to do is something that didn’t nobody else do or wanted to do”
Before making the album Cee-Lo sat the members down and asked them what they wanted to do. For them , the answer was obvious -.make music that was good but had a message. Cee-Lo says it was about aspiring for poetic justice and giving people an alternative to mainstream music. Cee-Lo compares the current state of hip hop to the novel Lord of the Flies, about elementary school age boys stranded on an island with no supervision. He describes the current talent as children running amuck without guidance, aspiration or tact.
Though the message may be a good one and the sound progressive there seems to be a disconnect between Goodie Mob’s latest opus and the hip-hop and R&B radio stations. While the group is getting spots on platforms like Ellen DeGeneres, their music is not being played on mainstream radio, but T-Mo is happy about the reception and the access to a wider audience.
Cee-Lo admits he doesn’t like hearing his own music in clubs, but feels the group brings a balance to the airwaves saying Black radio station sold out too soon.
“I believe Black radio and television resent us because we remind them of the deal they have done. They did not realize there was an alternative,” Cee-Lo explains. “They didn’t realize we were going to make a way and G-d was going to make a way. We’re not angry it’s very empathetic. You can get a check where they pay you to say what they want you to say or pay you to shut up. They can’t afford that with us. It’s a whole lot of money to make this thing shut up. ‘This is Age Against the Machine’ It not a war of words; this is where wisdom is the weapon of choice.”