I needed solace.” Solace, in this case, looked like Gnarls Barkley. “Necessity is the mother of invention,” Green says. Then, in 2004, after four years with Arista Records, Green severed his label ties altogether.
For his first solo album, Green reinvented himself with flashy, freaky retro R&B for his second, he sought hit-making help from star producer Timbaland. A few years earlier, Goodie Mob’s de facto frontman, entering his 30s, had stepped away from the group after 1999’s World Party, a critically panned party-rap album far removed from the social commentary for which the hip-hop group was known. aka Gnarls Barkleyĭivorced, unsigned, and struggling with depression, CeeLo Green had nothing left to lose.
Thomas Callaway (aka CeeLo Green) and Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse).
