88 MPH: Cee Lo Walks On Blueberry Hill

posted in: Features • Pop • Rock • Urban

During the past year, it’s become almost impossible to avoid Cee Lo Green. Whether you’re watching his new gig as a vocal coach on NBC’s The Voice or listening to the sanitized Glee version of his hit single “Fuck You,” there’s no denying that Cee Lo has been seemingly everywhere in 2011. Though he’s most well-known currently for his solo project and for Gnarls Barkley, his collaboration with DJ Danger Mouse, Cee Lo didn’t rise to pop prominence out of nowhere. As part of the ’90s hip hop act Goodie Mob, he was instrumental in defining the dirty south style that fellow Atlantans OutKast rode to gigantic commercial success in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Though he broke from the group in 2000 (Goodie Mob has since reunited), Cee Lo carried his love of classic soul and R&B sounds into his solo career. “Fuck You” is the perfect expression of his love of the classic R&B sound pioneered by legendary rock ‘n’ roller Fats Domino.

Emerging from the New Orleans R&B scene in the late ’40s, Domino rose to become the most commercially successful black rock ‘n’ roll musician of the ’50s. From 1955 to 1963, he released thirty-five Top 40 singles and played an integral role in introducing rock to white audiences. With his jovial disposition and permanent smile, Domino was a nonthreatening musician whose music had just enough edge to get teenagers dancing, but not so much as to scare away their parents. His rollicking style of boogie woogie piano with a strong backbeat was tailor made for ’50s sock hops and had an enormous influence on young musicians at the time. Domino’s hit “Ain’t That A Shame” was the first song that John Lennon ever learned to play on guitar, and allegedly “I’m In Love Again” was the first rock ‘n’ roll song that George Harrison ever heard.

Apparently, Harrison wasn’t the only one who fell for “I’m In Love Again.” With “Fuck You,” Cee Lo proves that Domino’s influence has extended even into the 21st century. The syncopated piano riff that opens “Fuck You” is practically a carbon copy of Domino’s piano in “I’m In Love Again.” Both songs are even in the same key! And with the retro vibe of the video, it’s obvious that Cee Lo is paying some major homage to the pioneers of rock and soul. What makes “Fuck You” such a blast to listen to is that it takes the innocuous romantic sentiment of Domino’s song and flips it completely upside down. Not only does Cee Lo not love the lady who did him wrong, but he centers his lyrics around an expletive-laden hook that would make ’50s parents scream in horror. Though Domino’s influence is immediately recognizable in Cee Lo’s music, “Fuck You” isn’t likely to be played at your local sock hop anytime soon.