NEW YORK — Forget killing them with kindness — Cee Lo Green wants to kill you with music. The singer-rapper-producer’s new CD is titled “The Lady Killer,” and while it has some romantic tunes on it, the title more reflects his approach to connecting with his audience: He’s looking to do it with lethal precision.
“Instead of random gunfire, like, it’s about marksmanship, directly in the center of the cross hairs. Pow, single shot, done, clean, from 100 miles away,” he explained a recent interview.
“It’s a side of myself I had yet to showcase — a softer side. And it’s more straightforward and direct, which is synonymous with killer.”
| Listen up |
| ‘The Lady Killer’ |
| » Artist: Cee Lo Green |
| » Label: Elektra/Asylum |
| » Price: $18.98 |
In a recent interview with the Associated Press, the Grammy-winning musician — who also hosts his own show on Fuse TV called “Lay It Down” — talked about his new album and smash hit, “[Expletive] You!”
AP: You’ve gotten a lot of critical love for this new disc. Have you been checking the reviews?
Cee Lo: I have quite a bit of it sent to me. So yeah, I’m up on the popular opinion of the album. … I feel so fortunate — all warm and tingly.
AP: When you write songs, are they coming from personal situations or ideas and dreams?
Cee Lo: It’s not a whole truth, the story line that is. It just depends. Not everything is biographical. Some things are third-person. Some things are vicarious, other things are cathartic.
AP: “Forget You” was released on iTunes a month after the song went viral. Did you and the label think of releasing it once the song was everywhere?
Cee Lo: No. We had to kind of react after “Forget You” was released. It was such an immediate, overwhelming response. Far behind my own personal expectations, you know. I think I speak on behalf of almost everyone to say that it just surpasses what we could have imagined. … A song entitled as such, again, I could’ve more easily assumed where it wouldn’t work as opposed to where it would, you know.
AP: How does it feel to see Gwyneth Paltrow perform the song on “Glee” and similar happenings?
Cee Lo: Tubular (laughs). It’s awesome, man. What do you think? From Gwyneth Paltrow to William Shatner to the numerous many versions and covers and parodies on the Internet, on YouTube, it’s like, “Wow.” It’s phenomenal, it’s humbling and it’s empowering all at the same time. It’s awesome in the literal sense of the word and I’m just very fortunate, very lucky, very blessed. It’s all that anyone could ask for. It’s more than enough incentive to keep going.
