Goodie MOB has been making the rounds, crisscrossing the country to preview selections from their highly anticipated album Age Against the Machine. The project is set to be released on Aug. 27, but Khujo, Big Gipp, T-Mo and Cee Lo Green have been giving the media a chance to hear snippets from their first album together since the late 1990s.
During a recent listening session in Los Angeles, Cee Lo discussed the MOB’s new song “White Power” during a 90-minute Q-and-A session. He revealed that the track, which he described as “a black perspective on white power,” was initially supposed to feature Eminem.
“I could’ve sworn Eminem would’ve done this song with me,” Cee Lo told HipHopDX, before adding that Em’s “newly found Christianity” likely caused him to reconsider recording the song.
Since its debut in 1995, Goodie MOB has been known for sociopolitical commentary in its music and there are songs on the album that discuss gang violence, interracial dating and, yes, white power. Cee Lo explained that he thought Em would jump at the chance to appear on such a song and he hoped the emcee’s perspective would add to the commentary.
“I thought he would eat the controversy up, but it was kind of hard for me to address it as a white rapper, me being black,” Cee Lo shared. “But my black perspective on white power was my relationship with him.”