Cee-Lo Green... Is The Soul Machine

The second solo album by Cee-Lo Green came out on Arista on 2 March 2004, recorded across 2003 and 2004. It split production among Green himself, Traxx, the Neptunes, Timbaland, Jazze Pha, Organized Noize, Charles Pettaway, DJ Premier and Locksmif, and brought in guests including Pharrell, Timbaland, T.I., Ludacris and Big Rube. Two tracks were released as singles: I'll Be Around reached number 52 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and The One reached number 82. The album went to number 13 on the Billboard 200 and number 2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and finished 2004 at position 80 on the year-end version of that chart.

Samples and replayed elements are credited in the liner notes. The Art of Noise replays parts of These Eyes, The One uses Earth, Wind & Fire's Devotion and Public Enemy's Public Enemy No. 1, My Kind of People re-sings elements of Pass the Dutchie, Evening News samples John Dankworth's Return from the Ashes theme, and Glockappella samples The Bar-Kays' Holy Ghost.

Reception

Pitchfork gave it 8.3 out of 10, and its review said Green's persona shifts from an apologetic former gun-toting drug dealer to a discotheque lover man to a church preacher. It thought 18 tracks were a little too many, and noted that only the Intro and Outro were skits, each roughly 20 seconds long. The Guardian gave four stars, noting that My Kind of People has a chorus borrowed from Musical Youth's Pass the Dutchie, and said it was about ten minutes too long. Robert Christgau graded it B plus. The Los Angeles Times gave three stars out of four and said Green captures the falsetto edge and sensual longing of Al Green on Let's Stay Together. Mojo awarded five stars and Rolling Stone three and a half. Its aggregate score on Metacritic is 86 out of 100. The book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die includes the album.