CeeLo Green has detailed his early days as an emerging artist and his creative process in two mini-documentaries produced by Tracklib, the world’s first and only digital service for clearing samples.
In “The Dirty South: Inside Southern Hip Hop’s Rise to the Top”, CeeLo shares his memories about the origins and key influences of Southern hip-hop, and the rise of the Dirty South. He reminisces about recording Goodie Mob’s 1995 debut album Soul Food and what sampling old funk and soul records means to him.
An additional video takes a deeper look at CeeLo Green’s “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley. In this short, CeeLo talks about how he turns to the cinema when looking for inspiration for his music and just how that inspiration translated into his biggest hit to date.
These videos were produced by Tracklib to shine a light on the culture and artistry of music sampling. They also provide a reminder that right now producers everywhere still have the chance to show off their sample-flipping muscles for the opportunity to produce, record, and release a song with CeeLo Green. Final calls for submissions is December 18th. All details can be found at www.tracklib.com/ceelo.
Amidst the heated East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry in the mid-90s, another hip-hop storm was brewing down south. A new scene was emerging in Atlanta, with a collective by the name of Dungeon Family paving the way. In a new short documentary, CeeLo Green (Goodie Mob / Gnarls Barkley) breaks down the early days of the Dirty South, which birthed a new generation of hip-hop icons.
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In the Tracklib-produced video, CeeLo Green gets up close and personal with memories about the origins and key influences of Southern hip-hop, and the rise of the Dirty South to a global phenomenon. He reminisces about recording Goodie Mob’s 1995 debut album Soul Food in Curtis Mayfield’s home studio, the impact of André 3000’s groundbreaking speech at the tense The Source Awards 1995, what sampling old funk and soul records means to him, and much more.
To this day, the Dungeon Family’s legacy is still as present as ever. “Knowingly or unknowingly, the descendants of the Dungeon Family still rise to the occasion and hurdle over that bar. Setting new ones in the process,” says CeeLo Green, referring to Future (the younger cousin of Dungeon Family producer Rico Wade), and distant descendants likeLatto, Young Thug, 21 Savage, Lil Baby, and other popular rappers from Atlanta today.
CeeLo Green unveils how Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” was really made
youtu.be/jOazMqm2HTc
CeeLo Green’s biggest hit to date is “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, the duo he formed together with producer Danger Mouse. In another new video by Tracklib, CeeLo reveals that the hit record actually traces back to his Dungeon Family days: “I was trying to make my escape back to the tour bus, but this gentleman reached out to me in the pouring rain to hand me a demo CD,” CeeLo Green recalls about a Dungeon Family show at the campus of University of Georgia. “[Danger Mouse] was dressed in one of those ponchos, like Bruce Willis in the movie ‘Unbreakable’.”
An opportunity for producers to collaborate with CeeLo Green
Producers now have a shot to produce, record, and release a song with CeeLo Green. With Tracklib as a record store for sampling, producers are allowed to sample any record available on Tracklib. The winning submission—picked by CeeLo himself—earns a remote studio session, and writing/publishing credits on the official release. The last submission date of the competition is December 18th. All details can be found at www.tracklib.com/ceelo
“Sampling is an essential element of hip-hop. It’s the bridge between generations. Some of this music could disappear into obscurity. You may never encounter it unless you’re introduced to it [through samples]. (…) Tracklib are good shepherds for sampling. They are mavericks on this front.”
—CeeLo Green
© 2022, Seth "Digital Crates" Barmash. All rights reserved.
