Bubba Sparxxx

小簡介
一個大塊頭的白人說唱歌手，Bubba Sparxxx并不是成長于城市的街頭中。原名Warren Anderson Mathis的Bubba Sparxxx出生于1977年3月6日，從小成長于美國佐治亞州和亞拉巴馬州交界處城市LaGrange偏北的一座鄉(xiāng)村小鎮(zhèn)中。Bubba Sparxxx從小的生活就沒有受到太多的干擾，在他的家附近并沒有太多的鄰居，因此一個黑人鄰居就對Bubba Sparxxx產(chǎn)生了很大的影響，正是這個鄰居家的一個曾經(jīng)在紐約參與錄制磁帶工作的年輕人把他帶進了說唱音樂圈中。
Bubba Sparxxx最初喜歡上說唱音樂是受到說唱樂團2 Live Crew的影響，但是后來，Bubba Sparxxx開始接受更多的說唱音樂，漸漸的他喜歡上了90年代早期的諸如Too Short這樣的西海岸幫匪說唱。不久，他接觸到了亞特蘭大說唱歌手OutKast的作品，這時Bubba Sparxxx認(rèn)識到，這才是他所需要的音樂，馬上他就開始學(xué)著寫歌，這是他才只有15歲，并且用這些東西和學(xué)校其他一些喜歡說唱音樂的孩子比試。但是說唱音樂只是Bubba Sparxxx眾多業(yè)余愛好中的一項，并沒有跡象表明他成為職業(yè)歌手比成為職業(yè)橄欖球運動員的可能性更大。當(dāng)時他在高中的橄欖球隊中是一名出色的后衛(wèi)隊員，幾乎贏得了那個年齡段所有的榮譽。但是在大學(xué)時的一次受傷，使Bubba Sparxxx不得不離開了心愛的橄欖球，他重新回到了說唱的道路上來。
Bubba Sparxxx說唱歷程第一次重要的突破，是他認(rèn)識了位于亞特蘭大的Jermaine Dupri的唱片公司So So Def的一名制作人Shannon Houchins，1996年晚些時候，在這名制作人的撮合下，Bubba Sparxxx和So So Def公司旗下的另一名說唱歌手Lil' Devil組成了一個名叫One Card Shi的組合。雖然這個組合在一起也錄制了幾首單曲，但最終還是沒什么發(fā)展前途，各自開始單飛生涯。Bubba Sparxxx和Houchins在1999年又在一起工作并錄制了幾首單曲。最后利用Bubba Sparxxx個人擁有的Nocents Records公司把這些單曲錄制成一張獨立專輯《Dark Days, Bright Nights》并發(fā)行，結(jié)果這張專輯在佐治亞州附近取得了相當(dāng)了不起的銷售成績。Bubba Sparxxx把他的Nocents Records公司改名為11th Hour Entertainment。這張專輯還引起了Interscope Records唱片公司的注意。最終，在幾經(jīng)周折之后，Interscope Records的老板Jimmy Iovine把Bubba Sparxxx簽到了自己的公司麾下。
隨后，Bubba Sparxxx開始和Timbaland一起工作，并和其他的幾名制作人一起錄制單曲，單曲《Ugly》最早問世，這首歌的音樂錄影帶在MTV臺播出之后引起了強大反響，使人們了解了這個來自鄉(xiāng)下的白人小子。之后這些在Interscope公司錄制的單曲被制作成了專輯《Dark Days, Bright Nights》，并正式發(fā)行，為了有別于以前推出的同名專輯，這張專輯被稱為《Dark Days, Bright Nights(Interscope)》。并且這張專輯在Billboard排行榜上沖進了三甲之列，使Bubba Sparxxx成為了一名白人說唱的超級明星。
by Jason BirchmeierNo doubt the first of his kind, Bubba Sparxxx dumbfounded the hip-hop community -- and soon after, the mass market -- when he emerged out of nowhere with Timbaland in late 2001. When his debut single, "Ugly," hit urban radio, it was unmistakably a Timbaland production -- the "Get Ur Freak On" samples being a sort of trademark stamp. This drew initial attention to Sparxxx, who many initially thought of as yet another Dirty South rapper, albeit one lucky enough to be the flagship for Timbaland's start-up Beat Club label. But when the video for "Ugly" hit MTV and Sparxxx's face subsequently began appearing in the press, the dumbfoundment truly set in: Sparxxx was not only from the South but was very large -- and white. In other words, he seemed the antithesis of what a rapper was suppose to be, and similar to the overnight success previous white rappers experienced -- Beastie Boys, Vanilla Ice, Eminem -- Sparxxx was suddenly more than just an anomaly; he was a bona fide superstar.
While Sparxxx's rhymes initially drew attention to the rapper -- and rightfully so -- you can't help but marvel at his story. Yes, he was white and large. But he was also from the backwoods of the South -- about as far from the streets as you could get. Born Warren Anderson Mathis on March 6, 1977, Sparxxx grew up in the country on a dirt road 15 minutes north of LaGrange, GA, a rural town itself 65 miles southwest of Georgia. As you can imagine, he lived a sheltered youth, with his closest neighbor over a half mile away. Yet it was that neighbor, a black kid, who turned him onto rap via mix mailed tapes from New York.
Sparxxx's introduction to rap music was through 2 Live Crew -- a far stretch from Rakim or Grandmaster Flash. It caught his attention, though, and soon Sparxxx began broadening his taste for rap music, taking a particular liking for early-'90s West Coast gangsta rap: N.W.A., Too Short, and Eazy-E. Later, when he discovered Altanta rappers OutKast, Sparxxx knew his interests were moving into the forefront of his mind. He began writing rhymes at age 15 and would battle with fellow rap-minded students at school. His rapping was more of a hobby than a possible profession for Sparxxx at the time, though. Throughout high school, football took precedence over everything else for the young Sparxxx; he played tight end and linebacker, earning All-Region honors as a senior.
When a football career never happened for Sparxxx and a brief stab at college didn't hold his interest, he turned to rap. 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 paired Sparxxx with then-So So Def rapper Lil' Devil for a group called One Card Shi. Though the duo did record some material together, it never saw the light of day and Sparxxx began pursuing a solo career, working with Houchins again in 1999 on some songs. These recordings resulted in the 12-song Dark Days, Bright Nights indie release on Sparxxx's own Nocents Records. After moving a surprising number of units after getting radio play in the surrounding Georgia area, Nocents became 11th 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 deal. Offers soon came in from a number of labels, and suddenly Sparxxx's breakthrough seemed just on the horizon. He decided to stick with Iovine's Interscope empire and soon found himself working with Timbaland. Over the course of two weeks, the two recorded six songs and Sparxxx also worked with other producers like Organized Noize and Houchins. "Ugly" became the lead single; an all-important video communicating Sparxxx's rural, white, country-boy background hit MTV; the evidence of his breakthrough came when the Interscope version of Dark Days, Bright Nights debuted at number three on the Billboard chart, making him the next in a short list of overnight-superstar white rappers. The follow-up, 2003's Deliverance, was an introspective album that found favor with critics but failed to sway the public. OutKast member Big Boi was a big fan of the album and felt it should have been a hit, and that it was just handled improperly by the label. He came to the rescue by signing Sparxxx to his new Purple Ribbon imprint and releasing the rapper's third album, The Charm, in 2006.