Goodie Mob - Dirty South Classics
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Pitchfork Media Rating: 7
During the 90s, Outkast and Goodie Mob were Hotlanta contemporaries, hip-hop mavericks who formed the
crunked-up cornerstone of the Dirty South. The trailblazing Organized Noize production unit rolled out
a gritty, organic sound with blaring horns and live bass, and lyrically, both Outkast and the Mob added
heart and soul to the bling and booty equation. Their complex musical arrangements, gospel harmonies,
and confessional lyrics upset the East Coast/West Coast bipolar disorder, and both groups quickly gained
massive underground cred and critical accolades. Outlasting Master P's murda music for regional bragging
rights, Outkast went on to achieve megastar status. But after three cult-fave albums, creative differences
and the pressures of success dissolved Goodie Mob in 2000.
That the four members of Goodie Mob-- Cee-Lo, Big Gipp, Khujo, and T-Mo-- could reach a unified vision of
empowerment within their dark, urban melodrama raises them above your average radio rappers. The sense of
urgency conveyed through tales of petty violence and street corner hustling transforms several tracks on
this greatest hits collection from battle hymns to ghetto anthems. Goodie Mob (the name's an acrostic:
Good Die Mostly Over Bullshit) lead rough, conflicted lives occasionally peppered by block parties and
one-night stands, and their lessons and losses often rise through the music.
"Black Ice", featuring Outkast's Big Boi and Andre 3000, is a sparse, psychedelic warning against the
perils of dealing near your neighbor. The sultry "Soul Food" brings brothers together over chicken wings,
grits, and a greasy beat as Cee-Lo rhymes, "If I hadda went and took the easy way/ Wouldn't be the strong
nigga that I am today/ Everythang that I did/ Different thangs I was told/ Just ended up being food for my
soul." Cee-Lo's cartoonish Scatman Crothers rasp carries the most memorable verses here; on the album's
only day-glo party starter, "Get Rich to This", his exaggerated, sing-song meter bounces on regal horn
samples like a balloon.
On a few lesser numbers, Organized Noize's dense, steamy production tramples the vocals, mostly the result
of underwhelming flow from the Mob. The Stax/Volt guitar and bass on "Fly Away" takes off with a funky
lift, Gipp and Khujo just can't stand up to the bump, despite their solid wordplay. Surprisingly and sadly
absent from this collection is "The Dip", the haunting strings-n-bass epic from World Clique, Goodie
Mob's final album. That track shows the group at its best, delivering significant rhymes in perfect synch
with a lushly orchestrated background.
With only a handful of true...
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