A great name counts for a lot- I just caught Gnarls Barkley at the Hollywood Bowl last night, and was thoroughly impressed. DJ Danger Mouse is perfection on the keys and Cee-Lo is one of the most passionate, engaging performers I have seen in person. I love the fact that you can't corner Gnarls in any one area of music, besides good... The tracks are a mixture of Rock, Soul, Blues, Hip Hop, Gospel, and whatever sounds these two dudes hear inside of their own heads- way out in left field can probably be a pretty cool place. The thing that surprised me the most about the show last night was how few people actually had any idea of the story behind this world-class, Grammy-winning act. Danger Mouse is the DJ who mashed up The Beatles' White Album with Jay-Z's The Black Album to come up with an album that was all over the p2p sites and bootleg circuits known as The Grey Album- If you don't know about it, go find out... Cee-Lo Green was just as charismatic as the front man for the Atlanta rap clique known as Goodie Mob. Before the Southern shit really hit the national scene, Goodie Mob were regional superstars in the Dirty, and their second album Still Standing was a classic. I can remember bumpin Black Ice when I was a 14-year-old kid ridin around South Florida and how infectious Cee-Lo's flow was way back then. This album was one of the most "Southern Sounding" albums that had ever been released when it dropped and Cee-Lo was maybe the most "Southern" emcee of the time. Dude went through some sort of transition, found himself, and now makes music to reflect who he REALLY is... And, I do think that the front man for Gnarls Barkley is who Cee-Lo Green really is- I believe him and don't think this is some sort of gag. Peep the video for Black Ice- chances are you know the song...
Another cat that I was recently put up on caught my attention by way of his moniker alone- Nobody Famous is a rapper/producer from Los Angeles, CA by way of Georgia who is making noise as an emcee, as a producer, and has put out a ton of dope mixtapes including remixes of Hova's American Gangster Album. To again reference an earlier post, this dude is another one of those multi-talented artists that are coming to define this era in hip hop. Dudes are jacks of all trades- Nobody Famous writes, spits, produces, engineers, and remixes tracks at a dizzying pace and people have been definitely taking notice. Peep this interview with Kevin Nottingham to get an idea of Nobody Famous' creative process and how he hears himself...
http://kevinnottingham.com/myblog/2008/07/14/artist-spotlight-nobody-famous/
And, peep a video of Nobody Famous rehearshing with his band (That's right, he performs with a live band- How dope is that !!!???).
And check some production that he's done...
Chris Young- Futuristic Sound
Jay-Z - Say Hello (Nobody Famous Remix)
I'm still getting into this cat heavy, so you may hear more about him as I do...
Peace yall,
-Breeze
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