Warren Anderson Mathis
(born March 6, 1977), known by his stage name Bubba Sparxxx
, is an American Southern rapper. His biggest hit is "Ms. New Booty" featuring The Ying Yang Twins which peaked at #7 in the United States. In addition to the commercial success of his "Ms. New Booty," Sparxxx is notable for his hit singles "Back in the Mud", "Ugly", and "Deliverance" featuring Timbaland and for achieving success as a white rapper from the rural South.
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BUBBA SPARXXX TICKETS
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Personal background
Born Warren Anderson Mathis on March 6, 1977, Sparxxx grew up in a rural area north of
LaGrange, Georgia, a town 65 miles southwest of
Atlanta.
His father was a school bus driver, and his mother was a grocery store cashier.
[1] His closest neighbor, an African-American who lived half a mile away, introduced Mathis to rap music through mixtapes mailed from
New York City. The music of
2 Live Crew was his introduction to hip-hop; he began listening to West Coast gangsta rap such as
N.W.A and
Too Short and the Atlanta duo
OutKast. With rapping as a hobby, Mathis was a tight end and linebacker for his high school's football team and earned All-Region honors in his senior year.
[2] Steve Herndon, a former offensive lineman for the
NFL teams
Atlanta Falcons and
Denver Broncos, played football with Mathis during high school, according to an interview with
Down-South.com
.
In 2007, he moved from Atlanta to
Tampa Bay.
[3]
Music career
After high school Sparxxx moved to Athens, Georgia in 1995. He met industry veteran (and now manager and business partner) Bobby Stamps after Stamps noticed him rapping after a University of Georgia football game. Mr. Stamps arranged for Sparxxx to work with many artists in Athens and Atlanta to complete his first CD. His first commercial CD release saw some success in
Georgia, and the album
Dark Days, Bright Nights
caught the attention of
Jimmy Iovine of
Interscope Records. Sparxxx signed to Interscope and began working with
record producers Timbaland and
Organized Noize.
The major-label reissue of
Dark Days, Bright Nights
, released via Timbaland's Beat Club Records imprint, which now included five collaborations with Timbaland and two with Organized Noise, debuted at #3 on the
Billboard 200. In 2002, he had a minor hit being featured on Archie Eversole's "We Ready", which became popular for being played at sport events, such as
football and
basketball games. In late 2003, he returned with his second album,
Deliverance
, which was critically acclaimed but sold poorly.
Sparxxx signed a deal with Virgin records in 2004; under Virgin, Sparxxx released
The Charm
with singles "
Ms. New Booty" and "
Heat It Up". He left Virgin to establish his own label, New South Entertainment, which is distributed by Koch Records. In 2007, he released a mixtape titled
Survive Til You Thrive
. He stated in an interview that he planned on releasing an album called
Twice on Sunday
for early 2008.
In April 2008, the website
DJBooth.net
published a leaked track "I Like It A Lot" and asserted that his next album would actually be called
The Impolite Gentleman
.
[4] A new track, "She Got Me Like (Ahh Shit!)" (featuring
Ray J) was leaked in late August 2008.
Non-musical work
Sparxxx has also appeared in the video games
Def Jam: Fight for NY
and
Madden NFL 2004
. Bubba's song "Back in the Mud" was used by ESPN's "
College Gameday" as the 2003 and 2004 theme song. Bubba has participated in a number of television productions and collaborated with the popular "
Girls Gone Wild" brand to shoot two DVD's detailing life as a rap star. Bubba has recently been featured on MTV's "
My Super Sweet Sixteen" (Kristy Landers episode) and was a mentor in MTV's "
Celebrity Rap Superstar". Bubba has been a guest on each major late-night show, including "
Saturday Night Live", as well as "
The Late Show with David Letterman" and "
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" In 2003, Bubba donated his time to travel to the Kuwait and Iraq and perform for U.S. troops along with
Wayne Newton,
Kid Rock, and many other musicians, actors and pro athletes.
Discography
Albums
| Year
| Album details
| Chart positions [5]
| Certifications [6]
(sales threshold)
|
| US
| US R&B
| US Rap
|
| 2001
| Dark Days, Bright Nights
- Released: September 18, 2001
- Label: Interscope Records
| 3
| 3
| —
|
|
| 2003
| Deliverance
- Released: September 16, 2003
- Label: Beat Club/Interscope
| 10
| 9
| —
|
|
| 2006
| The Charm
- Released: April 4, 2006
- Label: Virgin/Purple Ribbon Records
| 9
| 3
| 2
|
|
| "—" denotes releases that failed to chart
|
Solo singles
| Year
| Single
| Chart positions [7]
| RIAA Certification
| Album
|
| US
| US Pop
| US R&B
| US Rap
|
| 2001
| "Ugly" (ft. Timbaland)
| 15
| —
| 6
| 6
| —
| Dark Days, Bright Nights
|
| "Lovely"
| —
| —
| 77
| —
| —
|
| 2003
| "Jimmy Mathis"
| —
| —
| 98
| —
| —
| Deliverance
|
| "Deliverance" (ft. Timbaland)
| 101
| —
| 107
| 22
| —
|
| "Back in the Mud"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
| 2005
| "Hey! (A Lil' Gratitude)"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| The Charm
|
| 2006
| "Ms. New Booty" (ft. Ying Yang Twins)
| 7
| 10
| 7
| 3
| Gold
|
| "Heat It Up"
| 103
| —
| 57
| 24
| —
|
| "—" denotes releases that failed to chart or not certified
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