CeeLo Green Calls For Musicians To Take More Risks At SXSW

CeeLo Green opened up about his varied musical influences – including The Muppets – and how his upbringing has shaped his art during his SXSW interview with NPR’s Frannie Kelley on Saturday, March 15.

During his interview session with Kelley, Green spoke about how his mother shaped his cultural tastes by exposing him to multiple cultures and tastes.

“I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood. I went to military school. My mother made sure my culturalization was not confined. It has affected my music in a most miraculous yet practical way,” Green told the crowd.

It is in part thanks to this that he prefers not to think of his music as belonging to any one genre. While he understands the nature of the music business – target demographics, etc. – he finds it counterproductive to the true purpose of music.

“I understand category, I understand demographics, I understand target audience, I understand supply and demand, but I do believe ultimately and essentially, when music is divided into categories, it divides people. When music is unified, people are unified,” Green explained.

Aside from musing on the nature of his art, Green also shared some details about what it was like for him as a struggling Atlanta artist making music alongside Outkast and other members of ‘The Dungeon’ Family. The Dungeon was a basement studio where Green first started recording, and the artist called it a safe haven.

“It was a bomb shelter from the war outside. We were all escaping career crime by the skin of our teeth. Everybody was trying to make a legitimate break,” Green said.

Green used his talk as a chance to send a message to those working in the music industry, calling for more risk taking.

“Demand more from yourself, demand more from your artist, demand more from your music. Don’t accept. Demand more,” Green said firmly.

Green prides himself on his music that defies genre and defies expectations, that pushes people to move, something he feels is lacking in the current market of cookie-cutter pop product:

“Standing still is playing it safe. There’s no danger in playing it safe. There’s nothing inventive or urgent about standing there. I may not always make music to make you dance, but I make music to make you move, from one place to another.”

During his time at SXSW, Green also performed a set at Rachel Ray’s Feedback party.

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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