mixtape maestro (2.0)

Yes, co-signing with what everybody else with Internet access this past week has already screamed at you probably a million times over now: Cee-Lo‘s “Fuck You” is brilliant/ genius/ amazing/ the true song of the summer we’ve been waiting for/ one of the greatest records of not only this year, but, perhaps, all time.

An expletive-laced diss at an ex-flame/ gold-digger and her big ballin’ new man packaged as a cheery ’60′s Motown-pop romp and delivered through Cee-Lo’s heaven-sent soulful belts? With all of these elements involved, of course “Fuck You” was going to stir some deafening Web buzz; but for us what makes the song’s near-instantaneous universal embracing even more special is that, just like with the similar viral explosion response to that early leak of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” waaaay back in 2005, it re-positions Cee-Lo as the hottest pop and soul star in all of music land, an awesome reality to digest when you look at the comparably insignificant assembly-line bots most of the major labels are desperately pushing to have in those roles these days.

Fingers are crossed that when “Fuck You”‘s parent album, the Cee-Lo solo outing The Lady Killer, drops on December 7th, it’ll feature more of these modern classics to keep him perched atop that throne where he rightfully belongs.

Cop the single over at Cee’s website, then after the clip, snatch up Emynd‘s killer B-more club remix as well as an old Cee-Lo-featured fave.

“Fuck You”:

BONUS DL: Cee-Lo x Emynd “Fuck You (Emynd Baltimore Club Edit)” (alt)

BONUS DL: Dungeon Family (featuring Cee-Lo, Andre 3000, Big Gipp, Backbone, Big Boi & Sleepy Brown) “Trans DF Express” (alt)

On “You Don’t Shock Me Anymore”, Cee-Lo is captured expressing his disappointment toward today’s music scene (“I believed in magic once upon a time/ When something had to be special/ Couldn’t see it online”; “Now all the rock stars are regular people”; “The glory days are gone/ I can’t hear my heartbeat with the radio on”) and while digesting his words, it’s easy to take on a similar sunken feeling in the pit of one’s stomach.

Not necessarily because you agree with the details of Cee-Lo’s bemoans (which we do), but because “Anymore” seems to hint that by not being so inspired by his contemporaries and the current ways of the industry and public music consumption, Cee is pondering an early retirement (in the words of KC & The Sunshine Band, and later…err, Double You and KWS, “Please don’t go” Cee-Lo).

Thankfully the track, one of many highlights from the all new cuts-pimping Stray Bullets mixtape Cee quietly released last month (pick it up via OnSmash), isn’t entirely depression-inducing, thanks to a 70′s supper-club soul/ classic TV theme song breeziness that compliments his soulful pipes perfectly.

Grab the cut below, then check out the (NSFW) video to the first single from Cee-Lo’s next (and hopefully not final) album Cee Lo Green is The Lady Killer, a cover of Band of Horses’ 2007 Cease To Begin single “No One’s Gonna Love You”.

DL: “You Don’t Shock Me Anymore” (alt)

“Georgia” is the first official single from Cee-Lo’s highly anticipated forthcoming solo album The Lady Killer, and like anything the man’s golden pipes touches, it registers as yet another undeniable ray of soulful sunshine, surrounding his clouds-parting and goosebumps-creating superhuman wails with another stirring dose of densely-constructed, ’60′s-era soul symphony dramatics as he pays tribute to the state that birthed him.

“When they ask me where I’m frooooooooo-om/ I’m proud to say that I’m your sooooooooon,” he praises of Georgia, instantly making us jealous that we couldn’t of been born ATL-iens too.

Damn our parents and their un-hip ways!!!

We firmly believe that the world would be a much peaceful place if everyone in it had the slightly gruff, Southern soul-soaked belts of Cee-Lo piped into their ears at the start of each day. Because, really, has this guy ever produced a vocal performance that didn’t coat your insides with a blissful warmth (or, hell, fail to remind you why you fell in love with music in the first place)?

To further support our vote for Cee-Lo being the Everyday Wake-Up Soundtrack For All of Earth’s Inhabitants, check out his Gilles Peterson-premiered “I Want You”, a Jack Splash-produced cut that, like nearly everything else Cee’s voice touches, manages to already sound like a timeless classic you’ve been enjoying with friendsand family for ages on first listen.

Splash’s chilled, two-step summertime groove just sparkles, especially with those anonymous female background singers fixing glowing “ooh”‘s atop it and the teasingly brief snippets of violin heard toward its end, but, of course, it’s Cee-Lo’s comforting old soul presence that truly takes “I Want You”‘s feel-good appeal to the next level as he announces his giving up of the night life (“Sweetheart it’s been real but, the thrill is gone…”), then spends the rest of the track trying to coax some honey belle into settling down with him.

If it hadn’t arrived a couple months too late, “I Want You” would have served as the most perfectly perfect Valentines Day jam.

Check out the much blogged-about radio rip (complete with one those usually annoying, but in this case very justified, “REEE-WIIINDD” DJ moves), then re-visit one of Cee-Lo’s hottest solo tunes, the funk-tastic “Closet Freak” from his 2002 debut opus Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections (if you don’t already own this album, you SHOULD!!!).

Cee-Lo’s next solo release, Lady Killer, is due sometime later this year.

DL: “I Want You (Radio Rip)” (alt)

Bonus DL: “Closet Freak” (alt)

Jack Splash has quietly made a name for himself over the past few years in his roles as singer, rapper, songwriter and producer.

Besides drawing raving acclaim for his contributions to Plantlife, a wildly entertaining, three-albums-deep funk outfit based out of L.A., he’s also hooked up some of the brightest talents in modern-day R&B (Alicia Keys, R. Kelly, John Legend, Raheem DeVaughn, Solange, Estelle, Jennifer Hudson, Jazmine Sullivan) with these amazingly lush sounds and classic-tinged romantic scripts steeped in the always-rewarding luster of yesteryear soul (credits include throwback-seasoned singles like Keys’ “Teenage Love Affair”, Legend’s “P.D.A.” and Solange’s “T.O.N.Y.”).

This year has the potential to be Jack’s true breakout year though, thanks to the premiere of his much-delayed solo debut, Technology And Love Might Save It All. But just in case you’re still not yet completely sold on why it should be a necessity for you to circle the May release date of the project (or, hell, are still scratching your head trying to figure out who dude is), we’ve gathered three previously unleashed cuts for your listening pleasure below. Promises you’ll be an instant fan after hearing them:

“I Could Have Loved You” featuring Missy Elliott & Jazmine Sullivan

-leaked to high praise last summer, this infectious four-on-the-floor delight finds the ladies and Splash in the midst of a flirtatious stand-off. “I could have loved you,” they tease in a buttery smoove R&B hook, but because they’re both already attached, they can only offer a naughty twirl on the dancefloor. With their mates nowhere in sight though, Jack isn’t fully convinced they’re telling the truth, inquiring in his best Prince voice, “If you gotta man at home/ Why you got them high heels on?”.

DL: “I Could Have Loved You” (alt)

“Ringtone” featuring R. Kelly & T-Pain

-here, Splash is once again on the prowl (“Baby I just wanna get with you/ In a most familiar way/ I don’t wanna cause a spectacle/ I just had to stop and say…”) and being flanked by a supporting cast of A-listers (T-Pain drops a rap verse, an Auto-Tuned Kellz provides the chorus); but the track’s most noteworthy element is it’s oddly meshed groove, a surprisingly effective combination of synth-R&B quirk and acoustic guitar sunniness

DL: “Ringtone” (alt)

“.38 Special” featuring Cee-Lo

-Splash’s latest leakage, from the forthcoming mixtape King of The Beats (due this week), re-teams him with The Heart Attack partner Cee-Lo, for an exquisite dishing of needly guitar funk, golden age mic braggadocio (“I ain’t talkin’ bout a gun/ My .38 special, I spit from my tongue…”) and the kind of soul-stirring Gnarls Barkley-ish hooks Cee handles so well.

DL: “.38 Special” (alt)

Sample some of Splash’s other creations via the widget below; pick up his last mixtape, Heir To The Throne, here.

It’s kind of sad that not even the catalog of a legend like Nat King Cole is impervious to modern day re-tinkerings, but a single listen to this cut from the recently released Re: Generations (which dishes out Cole tunes as tweaked by the likes of The Roots, will.i.am, TV On The Radio, Damian Marley, Cut Chemist and Just Blaze amongst others) suddenly had us excited about what other creative nuggets the project had to offer.

Here, Nat’s popular recording of the 1930′s Billy Strayhorn composition “Lush Life” gets a zesty makeover thanks to the behind-the-boards masterwork of Cee-Lo Green. The singing Gnarls Barkley halve surrounds Cole’s pristine croon in a kinetic, ’60′s-tinged mix of groovy bass, starry-eyed ambiance, chopped string samples and itchy drum-funk, creating this beguiling, past-meets-nearer past-meets-present atmosphere that both parents and their hipster offspring could equally appreciate.

DL: “Lush Life (Cee-Lo Remix)” (alt)