A Lil' Less Lo, A Lil' More Mo'

For the much anticipated Goodie Mob reunion show, which after a few weeks’ snow delay hit the 9:30 Club in DC last night, there was much to be desired. The four-man hip-hop entity of Big Gipp, T-Mo, Khujo and Cee-Lo that helped establish Southern Rap once brought to stage and even more impressive live show than their family partners, Outkast. Their more socially conscious messages backed by a live band made their show supersede that of The Roots and The Fugees, whom they once toured with. Source magazine even lauded them as the best live act in Rap in their heyday.
One has to consider the immense success that central figure, Cee-Lo Green has received since Goodie’s disbanding in 2000. From moderate success as a solo artist to international acclaim as part of Gnarls Barkley, he’s expanded his audience beyond the realm of what Goodie Mob as a unit achieved.

However, this was not a Cee-Lo show, no matter how much they tried to appease that potential crowd yearning itch. While Goodie’s gold-selling Soul Food and Still Standing endear fans to them to a sell-out tune, they seemed to be less confident in their group success and ever reaching to find hits to fill out the 75 minute-set. Pulling from Green’s two solo albums, guest appearances each member had elsewhere (heavily leaning on Cee-Lo and Gipp's) and even a flipped version of Gnarls’ international smash, “Crazy.” This audience barely responded to the tune, evidencing that while we love Cee-Lo, we did take “reunion” to mean we’d be hearing Goodie only. With the absence of thought provoking classics like “I Didn’t Ask To Come,” “Fighting,” and “The Experience,” supported by female DJ ("Cut") instead of a live band, it felt when it was all over but the shouting, the group was a mere shadow of their former legendary selves. Though "Watch For the Hook" was a major highlight, even some of their hits were lost in the overcompensating use of samples instead of the original music and Dungeon Family musicians who used to kill it behind them. This was a far cry from the “Free” intro we used to see where the band would fully flesh out Cee-Lo’s song that light the match on their debut album.

Seeing all four original members was refreshing and maybe even reassuring that they may one day record again. But the show left this fan with nothing but yearning-one, for the band show to return and two, for Cee-Lo Green to put together a show of his own where he could truly showcase his incredible body of work over the last sixteen years. Add to it the incredible live band set by opening act B.o.B., an obvious student of the Dungeon Family sound, and the “Good might honestly have Died Over some Bullshit.”