by Oliver Wang

The slow—but steady—mainstreaming of so-called "retro soul" has been a fascinating process. 

So far, it's included the coldly calculated, the predictably bland, and the gold standard.

Cee-Lo's dips in this pool have been interesting thus far, including with "Georgia" from earlier this spring, and this summer's sneak peek: "I Want You". But "Fuck You" is on some other tip—very post-Winehouse and quite possibly to be in a red band, rom-com film trailer near you soon. 

I imagine Smokey is out there somewhere, thinking, "man, I wish we could have gotten away with some shit like this back in the day."