Artist: Bubba Sparxxx Genre(s):
Hip-Hop
Discography:
Dark Days, Bright Nights Year: 2000
Tracks: 18
No doubtfulness the first of his kind, Bubba Sparxxx thunderstruck the rap music community -- and soon after, the mass grocery store -- when he emerged extinct of nowhere with Timbaland in late 2001. When his debut single, "Atrocious," strike urban radio, it was unmistakably a Timbaland production -- the "Stimulate Ur Freak On" samples organism a sort of trademark stamp. This drew initial aid to Sparxxx, world Health Organization many initially thinking of as yet some other Dirty South rapper, albeit 1 lucky enough to be the flagship for Timbaland's inauguration Beat Club label. But when the video recording for "Ugly" strike MTV and Sparxxx's face later began coming into court in the press, the dumbfoundment really set in: Sparxxx was not but from the South simply was selfsame large -- and white. In other words, he seemed the antithesis of what a knocker was say to be, and similar to the overnight achiever former white rappers experient -- Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice, Eminem -- Sparxxx was short more than just an anomaly; he was a bona fide wizard.
Patch Sparxxx's rhymes initially john Drew aid to the knocker -- and truly so -- you can't help merely marvel at his news report. Yes, he was white and big. But he was too from the back country of the South -- roughly as far from the streets as you could get. Born Warren Anderson Mathis on March 6, 1977, Sparxxx grew up in the commonwealth on a scandal road 15 proceedings north of LaGrange, GA, a rural ithiel Town itself 65 miles southwest of Georgia. As you can buoy imagine, he lived a sheltered youth, with his nighest neighbor over a half mile off. Yet it was that neighbour, a black kid, wHO turned him onto rap via mix mail-clad tapes from New York.
Sparxxx's launching to rap music was through 2 Live Crew -- a far stretch along from Rakim or Grandmaster Flash. It caught his attention, though, and presently Sparxxx began broadening his taste for rap music music, taking a particular liking for early-'90s West Coast gangsta rap: N.W.A., Too Short, and Eazy-E. Later, when he ascertained Altanta rappers OutKast, Sparxxx knew his interests were moving into the vanguard of his brain. He began penning rhymes at long time 15 and would struggle with dude rap-minded students at school. His rapping was more of a hobby than a possible profession for Sparxxx at the fourth dimension, though. Throughout high school, football took anteriority over everything else for the young Sparxxx; he played close death and line backer, earning All-Region honors as a senior.
When a football life history never happened for Sparxxx and a brief shot at college didn't hold his interest, he off to tap. His break came when he met Shannon Houchins, a staff producer for Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label in Atlanta. In late 1996, Houchins mated Sparxxx with then-So So Def doorknocker Lil' Devil for a group called One Card Shi. Though the duette did disc some material together, it never sawing machine the light of day and Sparxxx began pursuing a solo life history, working with Houchins again in 1999 on some songs. These recordings resulted in the 12-song
Dark Days, Bright Nights indie going on Sparxxx's have Nocents Records. After moving a surprising number of units after getting radio play in the surrounding Georgia field, Nocents became eleventh Hour Entertainment, and the album fell into the lap of Interscope Records head honcho Jimmy Iovine.
Iovine liked what he heard and flew Sparxxx out to California to discuss a label trade. Offers soon came in from a number of labels, and dead Sparxxx's breakthrough seemed just on the purview. He distinct to stick with Iovine's Interscope empire and presently plant himself working with Timbaland. Over the course of deuce weeks, the two recorded half a dozen songs and Sparxxx as well worked with other producers like Organized Noize and Houchins. "Ugly" became the pb single; an crucial video communication Sparxxx's rural, white, country-boy scope hit MTV; the evidence of his breakthrough came when the Interscope reading of
Dark Days, Bright Nights debuted at number three on the Billboard chart, qualification him the next in a short name of overnight-superstar patrick White rappers. The follow-up, 2003's
Rescue, was an introverted album that set up favor with critics simply failed to sway the public. OutKast phallus Big Boi was a big fan of the album and felt it should stimulate been a score, and that it was exactly handled improperly by the label. He came to the rescue by sign language Sparxxx to his new Purple Ribbon imprint and cathartic the rapper's third album,
The Charm, in 2006.
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