Q&A: Cee-Lo

In Issue 1050, Austin Scaggs spoke with Gnarls Barkely's Cee-Lo about what comes after "Crazy" and the nature of genius. The crooner born Thomas DeCarlo Callaway also chatted about Goodie Mob, Kurt Cobain and dressing up like Dr. Evil.

What was your favorite outfit you wore during that first album cycle?
My favorite may be A Clockwork Orange, because it's actually, you know, gangster. Austin Powers was a gas. People really got a kick out of that. I like the School of Rock with the school uniforms. The astronauts were — you know, with the jumpsuits — were a little constricting. Know what I'm sayin'? And the Austin Powers getup is actually very, very hot.

Do you collect anything?
I have quite a few cars, quite a few pairs of sneakers, quite a few T-shirts, vintage-frame glasses. I collect women. ... I'm just kiddin', man.

On the song "Whatever" you say, "I don't care/Whatever" and it reminds me of the Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" when Kurt Cobain says, "Oh well/Whatever/Nevermind." Does that have anything to do with it?
Probably, in a roundabout way. I wasn't trying to directly borrow the line, but hopefully Kurt would be honored if I did. I don?t think he would take it as an insult maybe. Know what I'm sayin'? I think we would be friends.

Danger Mouse says that when he thought of the name Gnarls Barkley, he came up with Bob Gnarly, which I thought was awesome too.
Yeah, Bob Gnarly, Prince Gnarls, Gnarls in Charge.

Did you ever wish it was a different one of those?
Gnarls Barkley is the one that rolls off of the tongue. But I thought Gnarls in Charge was just as funny. And believe me man, it's just something that we just came up with to just mark the CD. Then when the record leaked, people were saying, "Did you hear that Gnarls Barkley song?" It was just kind of rollin' off people's tongues, because of course it's familiar in that way. And so we decided to keep it because people were sayin' it just as it had always been around. And of course the music has this kind of antique, timeless kind of quality too, so it just kind of fit right in there.

What's the situation with Goodie Mob?
Our Goodie Mob situation is pretty tentative because it doesn't have a home base at this point. We've never really severed completely. We're friends, we're brothers, we're family. Like our families actually still stay close to each other. I mean, unfortunately a set of circumstances — a few things to be said and vented publicly, man, but we really got past that, and we had always talked and kept in contact throughout that time.The grudge did not outweigh the greater good that we could contribute collectively. So there's a soft spot in my heart for Goodie Mob.