Goodie Mob: Bringing the Soul of Southern Hip-Hop to Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center!

June 16th, 2018

The Adrienne Arsht Center located near South Beach, Miami was the home base for the pioneering southern hip-hop group, GOODIE MOB!

HOOTIE HOOOOO! If you know that saying you were a true GOODIE MOB FAN!  That’s right, the most celebrated rap act to come out of Atlanta, GA specifically The SWAT blessed Miami this past weekend. You might recognize the original members – Cee-Lo Green, Bigg Gipp, Khujo and T-Mo.  The Mob reunited this summer for a concert celebrating their music of the past 25+ years. GOODIE MOB is known musically for their heavy social and political issues including racism, discrimination, geopolitics and gentrification. Believe it or not their music is more relevant today than it has ever been in my opinion.

GOODIE MOB was formed in 1991 the same year I graduated high school (you can do the math on that) and, as explained on their track Fighting, the name GOODIE M O B means the “good die mostly over bullshit.” The group made their debut with the 1995 gold-certified and critically acclaimed album Soul Food. It reached #45 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and #8 on the top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. I owned this album and I can tell you my roommate and I lived in the clouds while we listened to this classic album.  Our favorite song was Sky High and we truly lived Sky High. The concert and album featured three Billboard Hot 100 singles including the Top-40 hit Cell Therapy, Soul Food and Dirty South, the hit song which coined the now popular phrase. They performed these tracks to a very diverse crowd, not only in race, but age as well. People I tell you no lie, there was a 3-year-old fan in the audience. She was so cute!!!!

The group’s second album, Still Standing, was released in 1998 and it continued GOODIE MOB’s tendency towards social commentary, but also showcased Cee-Lo’s penchant for singing for the first time. The group was a part of the infamous Dungeon Family. Quick lesson on the Dungeon Family. The Dungeon Family is a hip-hop/R&B/soul musical collective, based in Atlanta, Georgia and specializing in Southern hip-hop with    heavy funk and soul influences. The group derives its name from “The Dungeon,” the name given to record producer Rico Wade’s studio, located in the basement of his mother’s house, where many of the early members of the collective did their first recordings.

The performance featured songs from Still Standing such as Still Standing, Just About Over and Inshallah. As the show continued they also exhibited love to Miami as they instructed their DJ to play some classic Miami artist such as The Poison Clan and the 2 Live Crew. But they did not stop there as JT Money of the Poison Clan and the Mayor of Miami Trick Daddy blessed the stage with a cameo performance. Goodie Mob closed out the night with another classic song titled Sesame Street!  Do you remember this?

Can you feel, what I feel?
Can you hear, what I hear?
Can you see what I see?
When ma feet hit the streets
What you know?
What you know?
Can you feel, what I feel?
Can you hear, what I hear?
Can you see what I see?
When ma feet hit the streets
What you know?
What you know about Sesame Street?

The members are doing their own solo projects now. Khujo is back in the studio and has a new track titled 38 Hot, T-Mo has his single The South Saying Something, Bigg Gipp is LEGALLY serving weed and Cee-Lo Green, well you can’t sum him up in one statement.  The entertainer and businessman has many layers. Look for him everywhere. People if you ever get a chance to see this legendary group, you must take full advantage of it. If you can’t find a babysitter, guess what, bring the baby lol.