CeeLo Green explains why he left 'The Voice'

NEW YORK, July 3 (UPI) -- CeeLo Green opened up about his departure from NBC's singing competition, The Voice, during an interview with Us Weekly Thursday.

"It easily and quickly became a job," Green said of his gig as a mentor in the series. "Very, very obligating... Taxing and tiring... I still tip my hat to Adam and Blake and those guys who continuously do it, but I think I ran my course there just naturally."

The rapper went on to say that he left the show "amicably" and with good memories.

"It really has everything to do with me having the leverage to go elsewhere and be a success as well," he continued.

Green later revealed it was co-metnor Adam Lavine who approached him about joining the show in April 2011.

"He called and said, 'Hey man, there's this new show The Voice and I don't really know what it's going to be about, and I don't really want to do any more kind of music shows -- do you think it's cool? If you do it, I'll do it. If you don't do it, I won't do it,'" Green explained. "And I was like, 'Well, just judging from the premise, the blind auditions' -- It's something that everybody agrees is just really original. It had a great new spin."

Green announced his official departure from The Voice in February after serving as a judge in Season's one, two, three and five.

The upcoming seventh season of the show will feature original mentors Levine and Blake Shelton and newcomers Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani.