Happy Birthday, CeeLo Green!
The Voice may not be everyone's cup of tea, but you have to be impressed when you look at the accolades that judges past and present have earned. Pharrell Williams is Pharrell Williams — he made "Super Thug." Gwen Stefani's early stuff with No Doubt was good, and Usher is one of the highest-selling R&B artists of the millenium. Then you have CeeLo Green who comes from Atlanta's respected hip-hop cliques Organized Noize. He turns 41 today (May 30).
Green is a founding member of Goodie Mob, a group that had a knack from blending surreal, soulful sounds with a sense of social consciousness. The group's 1995 debut album Soul Food is regarded as a classic rap album and achieved Gold certification.
Green ended up becoming a star on his own right as a solo artist. His first two studio albums were met with apathy, but he finally caught fire when he linked up with the producer Danger Mouse.
The duo formed Gnarls Barkley and released their debut effort St. Elsewhere in 2006. The collection is a great piece of work, which boasts the chart-topping hit "Crazy." A rare perfect combination urban sound and mainstream sensibilities, "Crazy" is regarded as one of the greatest songs to emerge from the last decade.
The years since has been kind to Green as well. His third album, The Lady Killer, got a lot of attention because of the kiss-off anthem "[Forget] You."
Green is still recording music. Back in January, the rapper-singer released an internet-only project called TV on the Radio, a nine-song collection in which Green raps over famous TV theme songs.
In the meantime, Green has been working on his full-length third album after his four-season stint on The Voice.