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:::Music Review:::
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Ceelo Green – "Ceelo Green is the Soul Machine"
by William Ashanti Hobbs
author and co-owner of Meroen Press
April 2004
Soul: the spirit principle embodied in human beings.
Machine: a spiritless contraption.
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Ceelo Green's wordplay of oxymorons stay in line with
the last album (Ceelo Green & His Perfection
Imperfections) - an attempt to be all things in all
places. Be that as it may, Green's sophomore offering
actually further confirms the opposite, which is not a
bad thing; Green is not the one to pack the amusing humor of
Ludacris (refer to "Childz Play" for evidence) or the
concrete and boarded windows ruthlessness of 50 Cent
(refer to "Evening News", "Scrap Metal" and the latter
half of "Glockapella").
Green is a Southern minister, period, a minister that
could not hide his need to preach if you paid him to
(refer to "Die Trying"). Every song comes with the undertones of being in a
family reunion complete with styrofoam plates and red
Kool-Aid with sugar that hugs the bottom of the cup.
This is largely due to Green's voice, which is truly
made for a black, Yosemite Sam type cartoon character
or that Bruce Bruce comedian type of uncle that hurts
your feelings with the truth but had such an
irresistable laugh, you let it slide.
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A perfect
example is "The Art of Noise", which luckily does not
sound like the typical screwball keyboard-styled
Neptunes production that flooded the market for the
past two years. It's a song made for sunny days that
features subject matter that Green seems to be the
most talented MC at pulling off: conveying, almost
gleefully, to the thugged-out generation that being
"happy" about being alive will not make you a black
version of Mr. Dithers from the Simpsons.
"Living Again" has the uptempo beat to make you move,
but the melody and message questioning the quality of
the life you live comes off in a way that works
against it, making you unsure of how to groove to it.
Oh, but there will be no qualms on how to take "I'll
be Around" this Timbaland-assisted ditty will work to
get you bumpin' and mouthin' along on either the dirt
road to big mama's or the detail shop waxing the big
body Chevy with one hand and clutching a pickle egg in
the other. Dirty-dirty all the way. "The One" is a
picnic banger for the single girls in the family
showing the rest of the family how dem children dance
these days. Unfortunately, T.I.'s witty flow is so steeped in the
subject of b!tches and ho's that the unedited version
kills the multigenerational appeal like DMX's lyrics
on his "Party Up" hit.
"My Kind of People" fares better lyric wise, but the
tone and atmosphere of the song is more of a winding
down for the night, moving side to side with some
eighty proof drink in your hand type of situation. "I
am Selling Soul" has classic Ceelo metaphysical
musings, but the music sounds like the producers
of "Will and Grace" took some X and... the disco
groove does him no justice. Green seems to sense this
and though the groove changes, the damage is done.
"All Day Love Affair" is a gorgeous ode to a settled,
peaceful monogamy. It will be the track that will wait
for you and meet you like an old friend when you
happily give up clubbing religiously for someone
special.
"When We Were Friends" has a light, forgiving melody
that brings to mind Tupac's "I Ain't Mad at Ya'" in
theme. In fact, it makes you wish Ceelo and the Goodie
Mob would let bygones be bygones. "Sometimes" is the
best offering of Green's free style musings, a
definite soundtrack to smoking quality Bob Marley when
alone. "Let's Stay Together" is a possible prelude to
the bliss in "All Day Affair." Though not as
inspiring, Green's ad-libbing is amusing. Overall, Green is aware that keeping his "feet on the
ground and bringing the sky" artistically (and I
daresay spiritually) to an audience cut off from any
real knowledge of its soulful heritage is a tall order
for a 5'6' man, but good lookin' out for his attempts
to.
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