Goodie Mob

Since its innovative 1995 debut Soul Food, the legendary Goodie Mob has never played by the rules. Famous for combining sick beats (courtesy of the ground-breaking Atlanta production team Organized Noize), tight rhymes, and thoughtful social commentary, the group established itself early on as a powerful force in the hip-hop game. Along with fellow Dungeon Family members Outkast, Goodie Mob kicked the door open for the Drrrty Drrrty South sound, setting the stage for the current explosion of Southern rap. Now, armed with an outstanding reunion album titled One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show, Khujo, T-Mo, and Big Gipp prove they can still deliver that unique Goodie blend of straight-off-the-block style and soulful content.

“People want to hear something a little more than just party music from us,” T-Mo says. “This project will portray the essence of what Goodie Mob really has to bring to the industry—message bearing songs, positive songs, and spiritual music.”

The album’s lead radio single “Play Your Flutes”—which features Sleepy Brown and Kurupt —is a mellow, psychedelic track that urges young hustlers and gangstas to lay down their arms and channel their frustration into the creative process. “Music has been known for calming the savage beast,” Khujo explains. “Instead of going out there acting on something—pulling a gun out and shooting, and really doing bodily harm to somebody—just pick up some type of instrument and go with the flow.” In addition to addressing the theme of urban violence, Khujo’s verse touches on his recent car wreck, a devastating accident that left him as an amputee. “There’s a lot of feeling, a lot of emotion in those 16 bars,” he confirms.

In keeping with this reflective vibe, “God I Wanna Live” is an uplifting offering that counters the rap industry’s recent lapse into nihilism and fatalism. “Everybody is forgetting about what hip-hop has always really been about—and that’s teaching people new things and new ways of living,” Big Gipp argues. “A lot of the stuff dudes be doing is weightless. Who cares if the beat is doin’ it if you saying the same thing that the next man is saying?” Khujo agrees: “‘God I Wanna Live’ is a signature Goodie Mob song because it has a lot of meaning. It’s unlike a lot of other songs you have out there—that’s just party, clubbing, smoking and drinking.”

The album’s title track “One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show” channels the group’s characteristic tongue-in-cheek humor to express their intense determination to continue making music in the face of adversity—and in spite of the departure of former group member Cee-Lo, whom they wish well.

Elsewhere, “In Da Streets” gets things poppin’ with straight-up crunk Goodie style. With its high-energy chant chorus and percussive, singsong backdrop, this joint it’s bound to light dance floors across the country on fire.

In the past, Goodie Mob has distinguished itself by providing hip-hop heads with hot beats to groove to and moving lyrics to meditate on.

From the club to the crib, One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show will continue the group’s time-honored tradition of shaking asses, stirring souls, and sparking minds.

“Most artists are here to get the money, and not stand for anything, and not be a role model to nobody,” says Big Gipp. “I really can’t live my life like that. We really want to say something when we get on the mike.”

One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show will be in record stores everywhere on Tuesday, June 29th.

Along with OutKast, with whom they were closely associated, Goodie Mob was among the first Southern rap acts to attain nationwide recognition, particularly with their classic debut, Soul Food (1995). The group unraveled after only its third album, World Party (1999), when Cee-Lo broke away for a solo career, and overall their recognition was much more critical than commercial. All the same, Goodie Mob's reputation as a pioneering Southern rap act remains firmly in place, and that reputation was considerably bolstered once Cee-Lo, as the frontman of Gnarls Barkley, broke into mainstream consciousness with the smash hit "Crazy" in 2006. As a footnote, a downsized Goodie Mob lineup remained semi-active after Cee-Lo's departure, releasing unheralded albums such as One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (2004).

Originally comprised of Cee-Lo (born Thomas Callaway), Khujo (Willie Knighton, Jr.), T-Mo (Robert Barnett), and Big Gipp (Cameron Gipp), Goodie Mob debuted in 1994 on Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, the debut album by fellow Atlanta rap group OutKast. Organized Noize, the trio of Rico Wade, Ray Murray, and Sleepy Brown who had produced Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, helmed Soul Food the following year; like Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, the album was released on LaFace, the label overseen by Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds in partnership with Arista Records. Soul Food was well-received by critics and became a moderate hit, breaking into the Top 50 of the Billboard 200 album chart (peaking at number 45) and spawning a trio of urban radio hits ("Cell Therapy" charted at number one on the Hot Rap Singles chart; "Dirty South" at number eight; "Soul Food" at number seven). As a testament to the album's influence throughout the South, the musical term "Dirty South" was adopted from the song of the same name, having been coined by Goodie Mob.

Goodie Mob's second album, Still Standing (1998), was again produced by Organized Noize, and though it only spawned one chart hit ("Black Ice," featuring OutKast), the album itself was eagerly anticipated, charting at number six on the Billboard 200 and number two on the R&B/Hip-Hop album chart. Goodie Mob's next album, World Party (1999), was more commercially crafted, trading in some of the social commentary of past albums for good-time festivity. Organized Noize continued to produce, along with Bad Boy associate Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie (and his co-producer, Kanye West, who earns an early credit on the track "Rebuilding"), and featured guests include TLC (on "What It Ain't [Ghetto Enuff]") and Big Boi from OutKast ("Get Rich to This"). Despite the commercial considerations, World Party proved disappointing from both a critical and commercial perspective -- particularly the latter, for the album barely broke into the Top 50 of the Billboard 200 (peaking at number 48) and failed to spawn a hit that could crack the Hot 100 singles chart ("Get Rich to This" was the only single to chart at all).

The disappointment of World Party brought Goodie Mob's tenure at LaFace to an unfortunate end. Cee-Lo in turn split from the group, mounting a solo career and debuting with Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections (2002) -- and later finding international fame as the frontman of Gnarls Barkley in 2006 with "Crazy." Meanwhile, Khujo, T-Mo, and Big Gipp marched on as a trio, releasing One Monkey Don't Stop No Show (2004) via Koch. The album was a return to Goodie Mob's earlier style of conscious Southern rap, though it lacked the production finesse of Organized Noize as well as the major-label budget of LaFace, and met an unfortunate fate, selling poorly and generally falling upon deaf ears. Also in 2004, Arista released Dirty South Classics, a compilation of the best of Goodie Mob's LaFace output.

Big Gipp then split with the group, leaving Khujo and T-Mo to carry on as a duo. They returned with Livin' Life as Lumberjacks (2005), which was a "Goodie Mob Presents" affair and the first step toward a permanent name change to Lumberjacks. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide