Cee-Lo is digging in the crates.

Jimi Hendrix (left) with Curtis Knight and the Squires.

But rather than hunt for dusty grooves in the bargain bins, the Gnarls Barkley singer has bought the rights to a rare collection of Jimi Hendrix recordings from when the legendary guitar player was a session player with R&B and soul bands.

According to The Daily Swarm, Cee-Lo's fledgling label Radiculture Records has acquired the right to license a set of 33 recordings from before the guitar god formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1965.

Cee-Lo reportedly plans to use the previously unreleased tracks for "an as-yet-untitled project featuring contemporary producers, likely to include Cee-Lo himself and other Atlanta-based hip-hop producers like OutKast and Goodie Mob."

Radiculture is working with sample clearance firm Alien Music Services to license the recordings for use in film, TV, and special projects.

"When I first heard these masters I was floored," Alien's Danny Zook told the site. "Cee-Lo combined with Hendrix are two of the most out-of-the-box artists of all time. Cee-Lo's one of the first artists in years to take himself out of every category, and put himself in every category. Hendrix was everything, as well. With this project, the possibilities are endless.”

The masters are part of a 1973 settlement with the Hendrix Estate, which were held by Ed Chalpin, the Brill Building-era producer responsible for Hendrix’s first record deal and subsequent session recordings. Hendrix, while playing guitar in chitlin-circuit band leader Curtis Knight’s band, The Squires, signed a contract with Chalpin's PPX Enterprises. Hendrix, thinking very little of the deal apparently, signed to a $1 and 1 percent royalty agreement binding him exclusively for 3 years.

The 33 master recordings include tracks titles like "Ballad of Jimi," "Knock Yourself Out," and "How Would You Feel," and were recorded in October and December of 1965, just months before Hendrix was "discovered" in London by Chas Chandler, and the subsequent formation of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The deal reportedly originated when Alien sought to clear a sample from the Curtis Knight recording "Sea of Time" for producer Cut Chemist's track "What's the Altitude."