20 Questions With Grammy Award Winning, Alternative Hip Hop/Soul Crooner Cee Lo Green

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He's rapped about 'Soul Food' in his Goodie Mob days, sang us 'Crazy' as the frontman for Gnarls Barkley and most recently had a pop anthem with 'F**k You,' the 2010 Grammy Award-nominated hit that gives the middle finger to gold diggers everywhere.

In just a few days, the beloved chameleon entertainer known as Cee Lo Green will do the unexpected in an out-of-the-box Grammy performance.

But first, the self-proclaimed 'Lady Killer' filled BlackVoices.com in on Atlanta's music scene, why he's not into men wearing high heels and just how great he's feeling while on the cusp of another major career moment.

Here's 20 Questions with Cee Lo Green.

BlackVoices.com: How did you first feel when 'F**k You' became a hit?
Cee Lo Green: I've answered this question a few times. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't have any unrealistic expectations. I felt like there is a genuineness about the song, and if something is real then it resonates as such.

BV: Do you think you were prepared for how quickly it became a pop cross-over hit? Gwyneth Paltrow performed it on 'Glee' and you two were on 'Saturday Night Live' together.
CG: It's taken me about 18 years to be an overnight success. It's not shocking. I am prepared and I am poised. I have become a professional over the last 18 years. I am very grateful about it all and gracious for it all. Just meeting Gwyneth was a pleasure. She is very kind and sweet in persona and personality. There are many different covers on YouTube, and people have really taken to the song. That's cool, because I believe I do music for the people and by the people, and a lot of my music has this "working-class hero" type of quality to it. I'm not surprised because I expect people to find it truthful.

BV: With the Grammys soon approaching, is there one award that you really want to win?
CG: I'm in the categories that suit the song, and the acknowledgment is actually enough for me. It's also enough incentive to continue on -- in the event that I don't win. Of course, no art of mine is initiated off of some underlying need to win a Grammy. As long as I can be inventive and honest, edgy and alternative, accessible and efficient, then what more can you ask for as an artist? To be acknowledged by your peers is very grand. I'm grounded, so I don't have a hard time being humble about it at all.

BV: How excited are you about performing?
CG: This will be my second Grammy performance, which is awesome. I am making an only son very proud of me, and my family is proud and supportive. They are living in the moment with me. I am very fortunate to have made a career out of something that I truly love, and I don't have to give off a visage or be a character that I have to play day in and day out. I am sure that is exhausting for those who do.

BV: It's no secret that some of your music is heavier than others, particularly some of the Gnarls Barkley stuff. Was going to that place tough for you, and did you think your career was over during that time?
CG: Gnarls Barkley was deeply introspective of childhood and adolescence. Those were the most confusing times. But what triggered a lot was questioning and where I stood when I was going through a divorce. I wasn't dropped from the label; I could have renewed my contract and gone with Jive Records, but I didn't want to. I have to be clear with people because I've been misquoted on a couple of occasions now, and it's starting to become a nuisance. So I'm either going to try my best to be clear, and I'm going to have to talk a lot less or not talk at all. I'm trying to avoid that.

BV: What have people misquoted you about?
CG: I've had misquotes become a part of my Wikipedia bio about torturing stray animals and all of this, which is completely untrue. I don't believe it has anything to do with the man and the whole person that I have become. I've mentioned in interviews, things that happened in my childhood that were very peculiar, but not abnormal for young kids or young boys, to be specific. Messing around in the woods or whatever. I've said something along those lines in a joking way, and they have been associated with me and I resent it. I also resent the assumption that I fell out of the sky.

BV: Your current album, 'The Lady Killer,' is different from anything we hear on the radio. Are you inspired by today's modern music?
CG: I guess I am, but more indirectly. I guess I am inspired to go into a different direction. I consider myself to be attempting alternative music. I guess I am inspired by it. I don't want to do it because it is being done, so I think, "What can I do differently?" I would like for there to be more balanced listening and for today's generation to be influenced by our elders. The music was better and the sentiment was stronger to me. It wasn't just about it being product. Music has just become product, and I don't know if any of us have any emotional attachment to it.

BV: Do you plan to hook up with Goodie Mob anytime soon?
CG: We're well into an album. Goodie Mob is very close to me and dear to my heart. I believe what we have to offer is necessary. It is a must-be-done. I would not be whole until we have succeeded at it.

BV: Have you thought about doing a future collaboration with Outkast, Big Boi or Andre 3000?
CG: We've talked about it. I was actually supposed to be on Big's last record, 'Son of Chico Dusty,' but some of the things that were sent to me, I didn't necessarily connect with in time, and I didn't want to force it. I really wanted to do something special because I've always been able to nail it with Outkast and the things that I've decided to do with them. But I was glad that he got the opportunity to stand alone and show people that he was solid. I commend Big on a job well done on his album, but, of course, I'm a fan of Outkast. I would like very much to see them both together again. I hope they are announcing a new Outkast album soon.

BV: What are your thoughts on the Atlanta music scene today? When you all first came out, there was so much diversity, but not so much anymore.
CG: My observation is that it isn't a scene anymore. It's something else other than what it was. That's not to insult it; there are quite a few people profiting from what it is, but it's not a culture or a community. That is a little disheartening because of the way we started. The city has become almost like a tourist attraction of some sort. It's very welcoming, this city of Atlanta, and I think there's a quality that many people have been able to appreciate over the years but also something that people have taken advantage of. After so much international acclaim and success, people don't even associate you with the South anymore. No one has to mention that I'm a Southern artist, but I would personally like for that to be acknowledged, but like I said, there's not a scene. There's reality in rap like there is reality in television. I'm not one for reality for entertainment.

BV: Speaking of reality, what are your thoughts on 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta?' As a native of Atlanta, do you think that's a real representation of Atlanta?
CG: No, I don't. I don't know these people personally nor do I know them professionally. I don't know if they consider a TV show a job. It's not to insult them. I be trippin' off of it sometimes, and I don't watch a lot of TV in general. I don't think it represents Atlanta at all, but I don't know. I'm not going to judge. Everybody has to go about it the best way they can, but I don't think that reality television is reality because it's edited for perfection. The slander and mudslinging and all of that is in the mix for good reason.

BV: Well, you knew Kandi Burruss before 'Housewives?'
CG: Oh, I'm not singling Kandi out. Kandi is my homegirl. She really could be using it as a platform. There's quite a bit of recreation that goes along with it, but she is also in the studio, writing songs, promoting her own music and showing she is a Renaissance woman. That's her passion, and the TV show is a means for promoting and shining some light on her entire situation.

BV: What's up with Danger Mouse? Are you all going to do more music together?
CG: Yeah. Danger Mouse is doing some other projects, and the next thing up for me is a Goodie Mob album and then another Gnarls Barkley album. It may be another year before that.

BV: Explain your fashion style. You are always rocking some cool and eclectic look. Where do you get your inspiration from?
CG: On the urban end, I'm going to give it to Puff. He's a fashion icon in my opinion. He's not always acknowledged as such, but he has been impeccably dressed for the last two decades. You can buy clothes, but you can't buy class. I am one of those people who understands the fantastic -- the more outrageous things. I look to Elton John or Liberace or George Clinton or Parliament Funkadelic and Sly Stone, even LaBelle and Patti LaBelle's outfits. I want people to reference these things on YouTube, if you must, to see what's been done. My sense of fashion is inspired by revolt and breaking the rules. I could never be a slave. Ya feel me? At the end of the day, it's really to prove I'm one bad mother f**ka and I do whatever I want to do.

BV: What are you drinking these days?
CG: As I mature, I'm starting to enjoy red wine a lot more often, but, on some cut to the chase, I'll take a top-shelf long island iced tea.

BV: Are you still single and a ladies' man? If so, how do you go about pulling a woman you find attractive.
CG: I'm single, and I'm definitely a ladies' man. I don't go to every party I'm invited to. You ask, how do I pull them? It's got to be magnetism that attracts them. I have to be someone's type. I'm not everyone's type, but I'm definitely someone's type. If a woman is brave enough to express themselves or initiate a conversation and make clear what they want. That is attractive -- a bold woman, and I make it my business to prove her right. I plop right in and say, "You made the right decision. You've got great taste." That's on rare occasions and special.

BV: What are your thoughts about men in heels?
CG: I'm not down with that metrosexual sh*t. I want to separate myself from it. I don't appreciate it being associated with my city. I don't see it because I'm nowhere near it. I don't have an aerial view or firsthand recollection of just how bad it's gotten, but ya know, I ain't with it. Then again, I'm not judging a person. Feel free to be yourself. I've been able to dress and do some very peculiar things all for the sake of art, but no one has ever questioned my manhood, and that I can appreciate.

BV: Have you ever felt pressure to lose weight from anyone. Your family? Women? The record industry?
CG: Actually, I will tell you this. On TV, I appear a lot shorter and a lot heavier than I actually am. Just FYI for everyone reading this article, I'm solid. I am not out of shape. It just happens to be the shape that I'm in. I'm not no slouch. I'm not no sucker. I'm not to be disrespected. My good shoes are not to be stepped on. I am not the one to play with on no kind of level. I don't get no pressure from nobody because I allow people to be who they are, just like people allow me to be who I am. I'm comfortable in my skin and that's attractive. It may not be ideal and may be just as alternative as the rest of me, my music, my thinking, my dress. ...Wait, but you're the first person to ever ask me that!

BV: Is that good or bad?
CG: I think it's cool. No, but to answer your question, I do want to say this. I actually am about to go hard. I believe that [getting fit] is the final level. I am going to be the Last Dragon when I get my health together. It isn't just for weight. It is for health and thinking more healthy, as well. This has been a conversation recently because I am about to be touring more, and I want to be able to supply the demand. I have stamina out this world, and I've been a big guy for the greater part of my career. I'm getting better, aren't I?

BV: We haven't seen a drastic weight loss in following you career.
CG: My music is getting better. My career is getting better, but there hasn't been a drastic weight gain! My homegirl said a lot of people may be disappointed in me because I lose weight. I heard it from a fan before, too, who said, "Don't lose the playground." They don't like it, the women who mess with me are some damn good actresses. I'm a big man. Trust me, I don't want to be nobody but Cee Lo Green. I don't give a damn who looks better, who's cuter, who's finer. Nothing. I wouldn't trade with none of these n**gas. None of them.

Cee Lo Green will perform his Grammy nominated single 'F**k You' alongside Gwyneth Paltrow and The Muppets this Sunday, Feb. 13, at the 53rd annual Grammy Awards, which air live on CBS at 8 p.m. EST.

 

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