Steve 'Flash' JuonI have been told by some fellow writers that I have a “personable and conversational” style to my reviews. In that spirit I’m going to start off my review of “Atlanta” by telling you that I have very mixed emotions about CeeLo Green. His contributions as a member of the Goodie Mob had already cemented his place in hip-hop long before Gnarls Barkley existed. There were initially mixed feelings about him collaborating with Danger Mouse for an album where he sings instead of rapping, but I still think their second album “The Odd Couple” is an absolute classic. I experience nothing but joy from it. I have never tired of it. If that was all there was to say about Thomas DeCarlo Callaway-Burton then I’d have no problem reviewing a third Gnarls Barkley album, coming out an astonishing eighteen years after the second. That’s certainly unexpected, and arguably, it’s a cause for celebration.
Unfortunately CeeLo had a huge case of “foot in mouth disease” on social media in the early 2010’s. I think you might agree with me that we were all better off not knowing every thought in our favorite artist’s heads, especially the ones they might look at in a moment of sobriety and regret, and the tired excuse of “someone hacked my account” doesn’t fly any more in 2026. For whatever it’s worth Mr. Callaway-Burton has apologized and expressed remorse about his homophobic and misogynistic remarks, calling them “idiotic, untrue and not what I believe.” I do think there’s a place for compassion and forgiveness, but it’s hard to forget the things that he said. Thankfully it has been over a decade now since his last truly regrettable tweet, so I’m prepared to receive “Atlanta” on a relatively clean slate, with the hopes that it will rekindle the feelings I had about Gnarls Barkley oh-so-long ago.
“Cyberbully (Yayo)” is as good of a place to start as any. Sampling from Three 6 Mafia’s “Mafia Niggaz” and actually featuring said same Mafia on the track, the song also incorporates a vocal interpolation of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony’s “Notorious Thugs” with Biggie Smalls for the hook. That’s a lot of different sources to merge together into one song, but Danger Mouse and CeeLo do it successfully for what might be the “most rappinest” song I’ve heard on a Gnarls Barkley album. Sadly it might have been even more bold has Gangsta Boo not passed away as Green said she was scheduled to appear too. It might not have been on this particular song, but I’d like to imagine it was. Even though this was the song that jumped out at me right away, the actual lead single from this project is “Pictures.”
“Looks just like pictures
Staring out the window of the MARTA train
It’s an adventure
‘Til I make it back home again”
One thing I will never deny is that CeeLo Green is a soulful crooner. He may not have come into the music world as a singer, but it’s clearly his calling even if I’m nostalgic for the kind of bars he used to spit with OutKast on “Git Up, Git Out.” I won’t let that blind me to the fact that the emotions he conveys with his voice on “Pictures” are just as powerful as his raps once were — and arguably more profoundly personal now that he delivers them like the lead singer of a gospel choir. “Cause everything’s been said already/and both your parents are dead already/We’re all coming with ya, so pass that liquor/the pictures are the only thing I get to keeeeeep.” There’s hurt in his voice, but there’s also hope.
In truth a lot of “Atlanta” feels confessional, which makes sense given the way he performs. He’s undressing himself before our eyes on tracks like “Sorry,” using the gentle production that Danger Mouse provides to give you his naked truth, and he wants to touch your heart in doing so. “There, there my child, don’t you be afraid/there are better ways of coping/than sleeping with your eyes open.” I wouldn’t be the personal and conversational writer I am without telling you I could feel emotions welling up in my heart listening to his words. Almost as if he and Danger Mouse planned it this way with the sequencing, “Accept It” shifts the tone dramatically moments later. You’re pulled from somber reflection into an energetic track where he swears “heaven is out there on the dance floor tonight.” It’s also the album’s finale which in my mind comes abruptly and far too soon.
Now that’s saying something given “Atlanta” is almost 45 minutes long. That’s almost titanic compared to the amount of music we’ve become accustomed to on albums in recent years. It also feels appropriate given that everyone involved has described this as “the third and FINAL” Gnarls Barkley album. I don’t think it exceeds the high esteem that I hold their second release in, but it’s a very worthy swan song for this duo. Danger Mouse took his time finding the right notes and sequencing them in the right way to support CeeLo’s passionate vocals, and the two are clearly well met and have been since they first worked together. This album will take you on an emotional roller coaster but it won’t give you a stiff neck or scare the living shit out of you. It’s a ride you’ll want to go on again and again.