Since the release of Goodie Mob's debut in 1995, the hip-hop group's leader, Cee-Lo,

said he has had to deal with a lot of music-industry nonsense.

In just four years, Cee-Lo (a.k.a. Thomas Burton) has seen trends come and go. He's

had to contend with the expectations of fans and record-company employees who

wanted to shape the direction of Goodie Mob's latest album, Still Standing.

But, as he recounts on the album's title track, he wasn't about to listen to any of them.

"I think people want us to vary and change for the marketplace," said Cee-Lo, 22. "That's

what 'Still Standing' (RealAudio excerpt) is all about. How we refuse to conform and refuse to walk the

traditional path of how music is done. We don't want to be packaged and marketed."

For a man with an eclectic list of likes and influences that ranges from soul to heavy

metal to funk -- specifically, the works of Al Green, Bobby Womack, Radiohead, Led

Zeppelin, Velvet Underground, Billy Idol, Portishead, Quiet Riot and Funkadelic -- these

words have a ring of truth.

You see, Goodie Mob aren't your typical hip-hop crew.

When they released their 1995 debut, Soul Food, gangsta rap was in full swing,

and it was more popular to talk about your "guns" and "bitches" than discuss morality. But

the Atlanta-based Goodie Mob (their name stands for Good Die Mostly Over Bullshit)

weren't about to bow to popular trends. Unlike many of their gangsta-rap peers, Cee-Lo

and his fellow MCs -- T-Mo, Khudjo and Big Gipp -- added social commentary to their

reality-based rhymes.

In the hectic time of touring and promotion between the release of Soul Food and

the period when Still Standing's songs were written, Cee-Lo and his bandmates

were caught up in the "game" of the hip-hop industry, with all of its temptations and

dangers. It was during this time that they were reminded of the bigger issues in life and

inspired to create songs such as "They Don't Dance No Mo'" (RealAudio excerpt).

"All that song says is once you don't want to dance and don't want to keep your career,

you realize you're just a puppet," Cee-Lo said. "With all our contractual obligations, we

just realized we're getting our strings pulled. There are a lot bigger things to worry about.

Social issues and moral issues, not just industry bullshit. We try to be in the game,

but we try not to be of it.

"Yeah, we have to play by some of the rules if we want to be part of the industry,"

said Gipp, 22. "But we always remember whose rules they are and try to break

them when we can."

And Goodie Mob do break some rules on Still Standing. The production team

behind this album, Organized Noize (Outkast, Witchdoctor,

TLC, Joi), throws together some of the most interesting elements of live instrumentation

and digital sampling into an organic-sounding mix. It's alternately moody and funky.

"With Still Standing, I wanted the 808 [drum machine], the ghetto bass, the guitar

and samples," Cee-Lo said. "I wanted to use all those things I like. 'Cause I'm very much

into rock and acid jazz and all sorts of stuff. I wanted to call the sound 'Rock Bottom.' You

know, the heavy bass and the drums."

Cee-Lo promises that Goodie Mob's next album, to be titled Brick in the Wall, will

be even more atmospheric and experimental.

In all discussions of his music, Cee-Lo rarely mentions the word hip-hop. There's a

reason for that, and it goes back to his refusal to be categorized by others, he said.

"I don't necessarily think we do hip-hop," Cee-Lo said. "If anything, we do alternative, or

whatever you want to call it, just in a hip-hop form. I don't want to title what we do. The

truth is going to prevail and the truth is going to shine, no matter what color you are, what

neighborhood you're from and what music you play."