September 11, 2010

By Jason Lipshutz

After nearly five years of trying, Cee Lo Green has finally stumbled upon the perfect follow-up to Gnarls Barkley's pop smash, "Crazy"—and it's impossible to play on the radio. "Fuck You," the first taste from Green's forthcoming "The Ladykiller," could've been an intense lament. Instead, it's as sunny as a '60s Motown hit and as expletive-laden as an early Eminem song, a combination that fits the singer's sky-high vocals and offbeat sense of humor well. Over a twinkling piano line, bumping bass and steady percussion, Green shakes off a failed relationship with a gold digger by packing the simple pleasures of old-school soul music into tongue-in-cheek verses and a suitably soaring chorus. Even if its excessive swearing means the mainstream will only hear the song's far inferior radio edit, "Forget You," the original's 3 million YouTube hits in a week's time prove that "Fuck You" is too irresistible to be denied.

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