Everybody's Brother (13 page)

Around this time Minister Farrakhan from the Nation of Islam called together the rap community for a big conference in Chicago to create some kind of coalition, a sort of peace treaty to try to unify the hip-hop world and stop the war that was brewing and likely would have continued. That day we were going around the table and everyone was discussing this, that, and the other thing. And when the microphone came in front of me, I preached. That’s the only way that I can put it. And if you’ve ever been to a black church, you know what I mean. Maybe it was genetic, considering my heritage. In any case, something kicked in and I found myself opening my big mouth and giving my own hip-hop sermon about the need to stop the madness and start spreading a better world. I was inspired that day. I started talking about what was going on and about what we needed to do about it, and I could see all these faces listening intently, and the older men in the room in their suits were looking impressed, like “Young man, wow.”

I so wanted to be part of a moment and a movement that was positive and had meaning. Like a lot of reformed criminals, I might have made an excellent priest, as long as there was no vow of celibacy. That day I wanted to join the Nation of Islam and just be a soldier in a struggle that was worth fighting for. I guess this may sound a little morbid, but I always dreamed of an honorable death more than I wanted infamy. I wanted—and want—my life to mean something. It’s
got
to mean something.

I remember thinking perhaps this was the purpose on Earth my mother and so many others at church had spoken about. Over the years, people who met me on the street would tell me, “You have the mark of a minister on you. You are going to preach someday.” Even people from other churches would tell my mother that. And in a way, it made sense. After all, I’d always worn suits, tried to carry myself like an older man, even carrying my father’s pipe. Maybe I was supposed to take my rightful place as a preacher and a soldier for God. It was a temptation—and a good one in my mind—but it wasn’t quite my path, as much as I genuinely respect it. After that day, I realized that I would have to preach a different gospel in the end—my own Crazy Gospel According to CeeLo Green. But before I would find my own funky flock and write my own Good Book, I would have to journey in the wilderness for a little bit longer.

FAMILY MAN

Here I am with my beautiful wife, Christine, the daughters we raised together, Kalah and Sierra, and our son, Kingston.

I will always thank God for my beautiful family.

T
he song “Beautiful Skin” was more than my salute to the pleasures of the flesh—female flesh, that is. It’s a love letter to women everywhere. That was a song I did one day in the studio when no one from the Mob was around. I had the idea and a friend of ours named Chris Jewell had a track, and the melody to that song came when we were beat boxing. Initially, that song was almost like a Bobby McFerrin kind thing—my strange take on “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” We playing around in the studio doing something like that, and I remember that’s where the melody came from. Lyrically, “Beautiful Skin” became my salute to sisters everywhere. The fact is that even before I met my match, I’ve just always appreciated women, all women, and especially our women. But woman in general are so beautiful to me. They most certainly are a wonderland, enchanting and very interesting. To me a woman is a muse and amusing. You can get understanding from a woman, but I don’t know if you could completely understand a woman. They are mysterious, and who doesn’t love a little mystery in their life? Or a whole lot of mystery if you can get away with it? Hell, I am a man of mystery. That’s still the case with me, from then to “The Lady Killer” and beyond.

I loved Christine Johnson from the very first moment that I met her. I remember spotting Christine at a birthday party for Gipp around the time of
Still Standing
. She was a vision of womanhood, towering above the competition. She had a singular kind of mutant beauty—in my mind at least, she was the much more gorgeous Queen to my highly unusual but still rather regal King. Christine is taller than me, and back then she looked even taller because she wore her beautiful hair in stacks, with these amazing blond dreadlocks—something that none of us had ever seen on any sister before. As a result, she appeared to be approximately nine feet tall of something good indeed. Like they say, big things sometimes come in tall packages. So I suppose you could say that I have always looked up to Christine—both literally and figuratively. Then there was the fact that Christine had a gorgeous face and beautiful skin. And as soon as she began to talk, I knew right away that I had met my match. As even a kid should know, when you play with matches, sparks will fly.

After the party, I got in a two-seater Benz with Sleepy Brown, from our Dungeon brothers Organized Noize. Christine just jumped in the car with me and we rolled back to the Dungeon, which had by then moved into an urban mansion with white columns. I do not think I really knew the complete meaning of the words “love” and “lust” until that moment. Okay, there were probably a lot of words that I didn’t know the meaning of back then,
but you get the idea. I fell instantly for this woman—and I fell hard.

So it was love at first sight for me, and for her—well, it was pretty instant as well. See, you might be surprised, but I can be a fairly charming fellow when I really need to be. At that time, I really needed and wanted Christine. She was so strikingly beautiful and staggeringly different in terms of dress and style, she also reminded me to always be myself—a lesson I might have learned a little too well. The woman had so much style. She wore a lot of thrift store stuff—shabby chic they call it now—and she was tremendously well put together. Christine changed my life forever. She was as close to a soul mate as I may ever have here on Earth.

I love that old Neil Young song “A Man Needs a Maid.” Some people find that sentiment sexist, so let’s just all agree sometimes a man needs a mate and a family too. Christine already had two wonderful little girls, Sierra and Kalah, and so I had an instant family. I like to think of myself as a mostly self-civilized man, but Christine and the girls helped too. They taught me a lot about how to love and how to take care of other people—lessons that I learned later than most. Despite being a bit of a mutant all of my life, like most of your garden-variety human beings, I still love love, especially whenever it is reciprocated. I crave affection. I crave company. I crave family. I crave the stable home I never really had. Trust me, the things that you are denied early in your life become even more attractive to you later on.

During those first few years as the man of the house with Christine and her beautiful girls, I found a kind of strength inside of myself that I didn’t even know I had in me. A few years earlier, I was a monster that people called “Chickenhead.” Now I was a father figure to two little girls who called me “Dad.” Being in any group is a lot like being in any gang, and for most people caught up in them, gangs are usually a kind of substitute family for those seeking some measure of safety in numbers. Now I had the real family I had always been looking for.

Big Gipp:
CeeLo has always had a touch with women, and part of the secret is that he’s not afraid of any woman. He doesn’t care what a woman looks like. If she’s close enough to touch, she’s close enough to speak with him. If I had to sum up his attitude with women, I’d put it like this: I might not be her type, but if she gives me a little while to talk, I might just convince her. He’s told me, some people have the look, and some people have to talk. That may be the secret to his impeccable wordplay—he needed it to get some play! I’ve seen women who thought they weren’t his type end up all in his bed. He has the kind of vocabulary that gets women to use a very important word: Yes.

And right from the moment they met, CeeLo and Christine were completely inseparable. Those two were an amazing vision together. Of course, CeeLo has always stood out in any room that he’s in, and I’m pretty sure that Christine was the only blond dreadlocked girl in all of Atlanta then. Seeing her for the first time was almost like spotting a rare, exotic, sexy animal living right in the heart of the Dirty South. Christine was way ahead of her time, and you could tell that CeeLo was instantly impressed with her style and individuality. Christine stood out as being totally unique, so she was probably the perfect
woman for a man who may very well be a mutant. Once we mutants understand who we really are, the ridicule of the world doesn’t matter to us because we are very strong in who are. Christine is a very strong woman. She filled a big void in CeeLo’s life for love and for comfort and for family, especially since she had two young daughters. Christine was very adamant about raising her two girls right, and CeeLo admired this young, beautiful single mom who stood up for herself and for her girls. Think about it: Christine was really CeeLo’s first serious girlfriend and eventually she became his first—and very possibly only—wife. Overnight he went from being a kid to becoming like a father to her two kids. Respect is big for CeeLo, and he respected Christine as much as he loved her—which was a whole hell of a lot.

At the same time, with Goodie Mob beginning to take off, I found myself increasingly wanting to be my own man. Yet as I would find out, being your own man and being part of a Mob—even our crazy and slightly unruly Mob—don’t always go together. There’s another song title on the
Still Standing
album that in retrospect defines me pretty well and at the same time suggests why there was trouble brewing between me and Goodie Mob. The song is called “I Refuse Limitation,” and artistically that’s always been my problem and my blessing. I’ve always been highly inquisitive,
and that has kept me pushing while others might settle and stay and just let it be. So I did what I do, and I kept being myself, and pushed to show my own voice in the group, which I know rubbed some people the wrong way.