Throwback: Goodie Mob-Cell Therapy

image_pdfimage_print

“Cell Therapy” is Goodie Mob’s debut single from their 1995 first album Soul Food. Group member Khujo was inspired by a television program where he saw an inmate describe his incarceration as “cell therapy.” The single also addressed government surveillance, sex trafficking, race wars, drugs, and gang life. Organized Noize produced “Cell Therapy” and the piano line drew listeners in as they were introduced to a new southern rap group. Their rap skills, subject matter, and catchiness of the single made “Cell Therapy” a Top 40 hit and drove it to number 1 on the rap charts. Soul Food was the second album behind Outkast’s Southernplayalisticadillakmuzik to put Atlanta’s rap scene on the national radar. Luther Campbell had already brought southern rap to the mainstream with 2 Live Crew’s 1986 debut. The Geto Boys released their first album in 1988 and represented Texas. Atlanta was not seen as a legitimate rap hub until Outkast and Goodie Mob emerged in 1994 and 1995. “Cell Therapy” is one of the most important rap songs from the South and the genre. “Cell Therapy” still has a pulse in hip-hop, having been sampled more than 40 times by Travis Scott, 50 Cent, Rapsody, and more.

 

Share