By shelz.

Cee-Lo Green is one hell of a talent.  He has spread that voluminous voice all over the urban music stratosphere; first with Goodie Mob, then with Gnarles Barley, all the while dotting his career with solo projects.  His style has morphed from thoughtful, country-fried Hip-Hop, to Rock to Pop and incorporated a grand number of other inspirations into the sonic scheme. Now the rapper turned singer has added yet another job title to his resume: The Lady Killer.

Fresh on the heels of the wonderfully eclectic and entertaining Stray Bullets, The Lady Killer is an array of emotion centered around a more amorous than stoic lover man whose heart is owned not only by the ladies in his life, but by the retro sounds of 70’s soul and 80’s pop.  It’s a style that has received plenty of play recently from a number of artists, but Mr. Green manages to flip the trip back in time enough to make it personal.

The theme, as delivered by Mr. Green in his Bond-esque intro, sounds simple.  He’s a man of leisure tied to few responsibilities who has a license to kill the ladies, in the most passionate of ways of course.  As The Lady Killer progresses however, it’s obvious his character’s appetites run much deeper than the carnal.

“Bright Lights, Bigger City” sets the tone musically with its verdant, pre millennial pop construction and snaky “Billie Jean” bassline. The song also presents our resident kitty tamer as a dude on the prowl, inspired by the energy of the town and looking for some action.  The tide quickly turns with the stand out single, “Fuck You” an ode to the temper tantrum that ensues when your woman leaves you for a man of means. I guess our Lady Killer is more charm than cheese.

‘Wildflower” opens the construction to something softer as Cee-Lo tackles warming up to a questionable lover and watching her bloom with beautiful results and “Bodies” introduces the steamy side of our protagonist.  The skeletal track gives up the spotlight to the lyrics as Green explains away the body in his bed as if his bedroom was a crime scene.  He offers his victim a couple of selections off the mattress menu then we get a Barry White like sonic peep show at the end to figure out which option she selected.  It’s sexy, but doesn’t cross the line into tawdry.

The James Bond concept rears its head with “Love Gun” featuring Lauren Bennett.  The song, a 3 minute sex metaphor, is as good as any Bond theme and much more cheeky.   The 60’s make an appearance on “Satisfied” which is similar to “Sandcastle Disco” in spirit and powerful in its ability to make you want to jerk, swim or do whatever dance was hot 50 years ago.

Cee-Lo mulls over monogamy in “I Want You.” He manages to make a rather cold break up song sound hot with “Cry Baby” and hangs note for note with the legendary Phillip Bailey on the best track of the album “Fool For You.”  The 70’s are on full display with this intricately constructed piece of soul bounce and the vocal deliveries are superb.

The only issue worth mentioning is the chunkiness of Cee-Lo’s delivery when he unleashes that huge voice at full force.  The finesse sometimes wanders, leaving an unrefined booming block of sound in its wake.  However, it’s akin to receiving the clunky rock that once polished and cut turns into a princess canary. Not much to complain about there unless you’re an entitled ass, which I’m not.  So forget I said it.

The Lady Killer is a grown and sexy bouquet that integrates multiple genres and times; wrapping them tightly and cohesively with a depth of content and Ceelo’s lush voice as the bow on top. Cee-Lo moves from seduction to affection to heartbreak seamlessly, presenting a well rounded vision of what happens when thinking both above and below the belt takes place.  He’s a Lady Killer so he could just hand you cab fare and bid you adieu, but as any grown man knows, the morning after can be just as sweet.

Out of 5

Cee-Lo Green feat. Phillip Bailey – “Fool For You”

10 Fool For You (feat. Philip Bailey

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