The 37-year-old singer insists violence has always been common in Atlanta, Georgia, but believes it to be much worse these days.

He said: "Have I ever been shot at? Yes. Shot at, but not shot. I came from an environment where it`s very common, shootings and violence.

"What`s uncommon is you don`t become a product of it. It hasn`t happened for a while, but if I went back there - at home, in the neighbourhood - I could probably get shot at today.

"I`m pretty sure I could get shot at just as soon as I pulled up. It doesn`t even have to be a certain hour of the day any more. These cats are on some broad daylight, random senseless s**t now. It`s terrible. It`s not like when I was growing up. There was honour among thieves then."

Cee Lo - who has a son Kingston with ex-wife Christina Johnson and was stepfathers to her daughters Sierra and Kalah - admitted he owns guns himself for "self-preservation".

He told Q magazine: "I definitely have a few guns, yeah - I`m all about self-preservation.

"One for the car, one for the home, another for the wife and kids... Well, the ex-wife and kids. She took a few of the weapons with her."
sections: Celebrities