Bubba Sparxxx extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Bubba Sparxxx
Background information
Birth name	Warren Anderson Mathis
Born	March 6, 1977 (1977-03-06) (age 33) LaGrange, Georgia
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia Athens, Georgia
Genres	Hip hop, country-rap
Labels	New South Entertainment
Website	www.bubbasparxxx.com

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.

Contents 1 Personal background 2 Music career 3 Non-musical work 4 Discography 4.1 Studio albums 4.2 Singles 4.3 Guest singles 5 External links 6 References

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.¹ His father was a school bus driver, and his mother was a grocery store cashier.² 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.¹ 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.¹² In 2007, he moved from Atlanta to Tampa.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.¹ 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.¹

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 2008.³ 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

Studio albums

Year	Album details	Peak chart positions				Certifications (sales threshold)
		US 5	US R&B 5	US Rap 5	NZ 6
2001	Dark Days, Bright Nights First studio album Release date: September 18, 2001 Label: Beat Club Records/Interscope Records	3	3	*	—	US certification: Gold7
2003	Deliverance Second studio album Release date: September 16, 2003 Label: Beat Club/Interscope	10	9	*	30
2006	The Charm Third studio album Release date: April 4, 2006 Label: Virgin/Purple Ribbon Records	9	3	2	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions					RIAA8	Album
		US 9	US R&B 9	US Rap 9	UK 10	NZ 11
2001	"Ugly" (with Timbaland)	15	6	6	7	—	—	Dark Days, Bright Nights
	"Lovely"	—	77	—	24	—	—
2003	"Jimmy Mathis"	—	98	—	—	—	—	Deliverance
	"Deliverance" (with Timbaland)	101	107	22	55	—	—
	"Back in the Mud"	—	—	—	—	3	—
2005	"Hey! (A Lil' Gratitude)"	—	—	—	—	—	—	The Charm
2006	"Ms. New Booty" (with Ying Yang Twins)	7	7	3	—	22	Gold
	"Heat It Up"	103	57	24	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Guest singles

Year	Single	Artist	Peak positions	Album
			US R&B
2002	"We Ready"	Archie Eversole	64	Ride Wit Me Dirty South Style

External links

• Bubba Sparxxx at MySpace
• Bubba Sparxxx at Discogs
• Bubba Sparxxx discography at MusicBrainz

References