I mean in terms of range, phrasing, etc.

No, but he has a nice voice. I like his music.

... I'd consider him a Vocalist....

but he relies heavily on autotune...

and the ones where he isnt using it, he's always out of tune....

i still like him though as an artist

autotune-really? how can you tell?

He's not good live singer and I wouldn't consider him a vocalist. AT ALL

I guess there's audio of him acapella where autotune is heard. I know he used some kind of instrument, don't know if it was autotune or vocoder, on the mixtape.

As far as "great", I think he's good but I won't go that far. BUT he has done some great music in my honest opinion.

scriptgirl said:

autotune-really? how can you tell?

The formants in his voice are always raised take (Crazy)

Autotune destroys/alters the natural formants of a person's voice,

For you laymen formants

are acoustic resonance that coincide with the the shape of a person, and their normal speaking tone...

Say you hear a big guy, with a low speaking voice (cee. lo)

the formants (not range) mind you will always be low...

when they're risen they sound unnatural, or sound like they come from a smaller person

Formants are also connected to speed etc...

Take prince's Camile alter ego, he acomplished this by speeding up the tape, which raised his vocal formants

[Edited 11/10/10 19:29pm]

I appreciate that English is not your first language, but you are talking absolute bollocks.

He's got a great voice, end of.

Mong said:

I appreciate that English is not your first language, but you are talking absolute bollocks.

He's got a great voice, end of.

Yes Mein Furher

EmbattledWarrior said:

scriptgirl said:

autotune-really? how can you tell?

The formants in his voice are always raised take (Crazy)

Autotune destroys/alters the natural formants of a person's voice,

For you laymen formants

are acoustic resonance that coincide with the the shape of a person, and their normal speaking tone...

Say you hear a big guy, with a low speaking voice (cee. lo)

the formants (not range) mind you will always be low...

when they're risen they sound unnatural, or sound like they come from a smaller person

Formants are also connected to speed etc...

Take prince's Camile alter ego, he acomplished this by speeding up the tape, which raised his vocal formants

[Edited 11/10/10 19:29pm]

Tell me on what song, does he use autotune? I have everything that the man has ever done and I hear no sign of auto tune. What songs are you listening too? Please tell me.

Good for sure. Powerful and unique. But I'm not sure he's got a great natural voice.

EmbattledWarrior said:

scriptgirl said:

autotune-really? how can you tell?

Say you hear a big guy, with a low speaking voice (cee. lo)

[Edited 11/10/10 19:29pm]

Really, Cee Lo has a Low voice?

I beg to differ. His is very soft spoken with a rhaspy voice that matches his singing tone.

He is has an extremely unique voice (that many people do not like) and he claims to have never had a singing lesson.

I for one think his voice is a thing of beauty and he can sing any type of song and bring out the emotion of the song. He oozes soul.

For those that think he does not have a great live voice, check him out here singing "lonely teardrops" with just a piano backing.

No autotune there. And someone please show me where ALL this autotune is being used in his music that he relies so heavily on. Jools seems very impressed with Cee Lo.

For some reason, people just don't like him and that is cool. To each their own. I for one am very happy for him and his success and think that "The Lady Killer" will only help him and his lovely voice cross over to a whole new set of fans.

Next up will be his Goodie Mob reunion album, then a new Gnarls album. His versatility will keep him with a large diverse fan base. That can't be said for many artist out today.

Here he is singing Radioheads Reckoner.

Either you dig it or you don't.

[Edited 11/11/10 7:05am]

Great? No........but I really dig this cat's work.

Who?

EmbattledWarrior said:

... I'd consider him a Vocalist....

but he relies heavily on autotune...

and the ones where he isnt using it, he's always out of tune....

i still like him though as an artist

Ceelo and autotune? Don't think so........

Graycap23 said:

EmbattledWarrior said:

... I'd consider him a Vocalist....

but he relies heavily on autotune...

and the ones where he isnt using it, he's always out of tune....

i still like him though as an artist

Ceelo and autotune? Don't think so........

Actually, depending on how you look at it. Cats thinking that Cee Lo relies heavily on Autotune is actually a compliment.

That just says how good his voice is for a person to say "he must be using autotune"

But who knows, I could just ba a laymen.

Later

Yes he is.

He came at a time(the 90s) when most R&B male singers were trying to sound like Stevie Wonder,,,,I just appreciate the fact that you could recognize his voice right off the bat and still hear him doing different styles without sounding out of place.

He'll have a long fruitful career if he keeps nurturing his voice.

Harlepolis said:

Yes he is.

He came at a time(the 90s) when most R&B male singers were trying to sound like Stevie Wonder,,,,I just appreciate the fact that you could recognize his voice right off the bat and still hear him doing different styles without sounding out of place.

He'll have a long fruitful career if he keeps nurturing his voice.

On his first solo record, he has a song called "One for the Road" (and for those that do not know, Cee Lo is an amazing lyricist) and one of the lines is.....

"You are like every other rapper

Cornrows and a bandana

But I get a $150,00 check

every three months off Santana"

2:00 in.....

The Rhyme on this one is great too.

I always thought he had a great singing voice. I love the uniqueness of it. Nobody else sounds like him.

EmbattledWarrior said:

scriptgirl said:

autotune-really? how can you tell?

The formants in his voice are always raised take (Crazy)

Autotune destroys/alters the natural formants of a person's voice,

For you laymen formants

are acoustic resonance that coincide with the the shape of a person, and their normal speaking tone...

Say you hear a big guy, with a low speaking voice (cee. lo)

the formants (not range) mind you will always be low...

when they're risen they sound unnatural, or sound like they come from a smaller person

Formants are also connected to speed etc...

Take prince's Camile alter ego, he acomplished this by speeding up the tape, which raised his vocal formants

[Edited 11/10/10 19:29pm]

absolute nonsense

he is a tenor

and you're wrong about autotune too

[Edited 11/11/10 10:27am]

Harlepolis said:

Yes he is.

He came at a time(the 90s) when most R&B male singers were trying to sound like Stevie Wonder,,,,I just appreciate the fact that you could recognize his voice right off the bat and still hear him doing different styles without sounding out of place.

He'll have a long fruitful career if he keeps nurturing his voice.

Yeah, I like that about him, too. I sort of feel like he belongs more to that line of more guttural-sounding vocalists that stretches from Sam Cooke to Otis Redding and Bobby Womack, all the way on to TTD/Sananda and Anthony Hamilton, rather than the great swathe of male singers who learned their craft from Stevie. There haven't been so many of them around in recent times (particularly since Terence was banished to wander the forests and basement studios of Europe, accompanied only by his own ego). Good to hear him come through, and I like the fact that he has that kind of 'old school' singing style, but often does quite avant-garde and futuristic material.

deebee said:

Harlepolis said:

Yes he is.

He came at a time(the 90s) when most R&B male singers were trying to sound like Stevie Wonder,,,,I just appreciate the fact that you could recognize his voice right off the bat and still hear him doing different styles without sounding out of place.

He'll have a long fruitful career if he keeps nurturing his voice.

Yeah, I like that about him, too. I sort of feel like he belongs more to that line of more guttural-sounding vocalists that stretches from Sam Cooke to Otis Redding and Bobby Womack, all the way on to TTD/Sananda and Anthony Hamilton, rather than the great swathe of male singers who learned their craft from Stevie. There haven't been so many of them around in recent times (particularly since Terence was banished to wander the forests and basement studios of Europe, accompanied only by his own ego).

4 sho.

Harlepolis said:

He came at a time(the 90s) when most R&B male singers were trying to sound like Stevie Wonder,,,,I just appreciate the fact that you could recognize his voice right off the bat and still hear him doing different styles without sounding out of place.

He'll have a long fruitful career if he keeps nurturing his voice.

True.

Cee-Lo can sing his ass off.

Anyway, dude has skills.

I remember first being taken by his vocals during the Goodie Mob era. Can't believe "Cell Therapy" is 15 years old now.

BlaqueKnight said:

Cee-Lo can sing his ass off.

People have become so appearance oriented that it is part of the difficulty of his acceptance.

People have become accustomed to having all of their singers wrapped in a pretty, skinny or ab-ripped package. True, some people are put off by the character of his voice because its unique, which translates to "odd" to some but many people dislike his appearance because he doesn't look like a "pop star" and yet he's in the same stratosphere.

The music industry has become such a caricature of itself that you only see "normal" looking people when they come from shows like American Idol. He doesn't fit the "mold" and American audiences have been conditioned for the past 15-18 years or so to expect their celebrities to be "t.v. pretty" at the least.

Also, the fact that he comes from a hip-hop background plays a part as well. He's always had sort of a sing-rapping rap style but some people still see him as a rapper and in most peoples' minds, singing and rapping are very different. It would be as if Rick Ross started singing on records and sounding like Luther Vandross. It would be a hard pill for people to swallow.

Anyway, dude has skills.

Dude has major skills. i guess the real question is: define great.

Sorry but I HAD to post this since its my first time seeing it

All-girl bands are getting popular these days.

Cee Lo has a damn good voice, but I've never heard any auto-tune in any of his recordings. That's bullshit. The new album is really good, and such catchy songs. Soulful, and fun, and you can't ask for much more than that.

BlaqueKnight said:

Sorry but I HAD to post this since its my first time seeing it

All-girl bands are getting popular these days.

It's painfully obvious that he can't sing

Keep kicking ass Lo!

Graycap23 said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Cee-Lo can sing his ass off.

People have become so appearance oriented that it is part of the difficulty of his acceptance.

People have become accustomed to having all of their singers wrapped in a pretty, skinny or ab-ripped package. True, some people are put off by the character of his voice because its unique, which translates to "odd" to some but many people dislike his appearance because he doesn't look like a "pop star" and yet he's in the same stratosphere.

The music industry has become such a caricature of itself that you only see "normal" looking people when they come from shows like American Idol. He doesn't fit the "mold" and American audiences have been conditioned for the past 15-18 years or so to expect their celebrities to be "t.v. pretty" at the least.

Also, the fact that he comes from a hip-hop background plays a part as well. He's always had sort of a sing-rapping rap style but some people still see him as a rapper and in most peoples' minds, singing and rapping are very different. It would be as if Rick Ross started singing on records and sounding like Luther Vandross. It would be a hard pill for people to swallow.

Anyway, dude has skills.

Dude has major skills. i guess the real question is: define great.

Gray, I don't think you'll have a concrete answer given that its subjective.