On the “A” w/Souleo
If the influence of Goodie Mob were to be measured solely by the number of contemporary socially conscious Southern hip-hop artists, one might assume that the veteran group from Atlanta left virtually no mark. At least that’s the case according to group member Big Gipp.
“The South gets a rap for being ignorant at this point in time. Ten years back with OutKast and us [Goodie Mob] we took Southern rap to a level of intelligence no other crew [had] done before,” he says. “It’s a waste that after we took it that far that there is no example of what we instilled in the Southern hip-hop genre. Life is too real right now to do music that every person can see is bulls—. Nobody sells drugs big like that no more and has all these different sexual fantasies all the time and that’s all our music represents. But our music doesn’t have to represent that. We can be smarter.”
That point of view has led the group consisting of Cee Lo Green, Big Gipp, Khujo and T-Mo to reunite after 14 years and release a new album titled Age Against the Machine. The title is a reflection of their maturity and growth over the years.
“I think we are able to focus some of that rage and make it relative to the time we are living in,” says Green. “There is not enough of what needs to be done and it’s a statement of how we have not got better over time. The plight for all existence is to master oneself and the pursuit is better than having done so. We would happily die trying.”
In their efforts toward greatness, the group recently made history as the first hip-hop act to perform at JetBlue’s Live from T5 concert at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The series features surprise concerts held post-security at Terminal 5 (T5) for ticketed customers and contest winners. And if making a bit of history isn’t enough, the group will soon be seen in the TBS reality show, “The Cee Lo Life,” which debuts next year.
From the airport runway to the runway of New York Fashion Week was the Just Dance with Boy Meets Girl fashion show at Style360. Boy Meets Girl designer Stacy Igel, drew inspiration for her line from the popular video game, Just Dance 2014, which will be released in October.
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