Cee Lo Green believes he will be shot if he returns to his hometown

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."