Biography Wikipedia
Wikipedia:
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. He is also noted for his hit singles "Deliverance" and "Ugly".
Personal background
Born Warren Anderson Mathis on March 6, 1977, Sparxxx is of French descent, and 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. His closest neighbor, 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. 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.
Music career
After high school Sparxxx moved to Athens, Georgia in 1996. In Athens, he met industry veteran (and now manager and business partner) Bobby Stamps. Stamps noticed Sparxxx rapping after a University of Georgia football game. 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 Records 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. His 2002 London debut was described by Caroline Sullivan, Guardian music critic, as the worst gig she had been to. In late 2003, he returned with his second album, Deliverance, which was critically acclaimed but sold poorly.
Sparxxx signed a recording contract 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 E1 Records. In 2007, he released a mixtape with DJ Burn One titled Survive Till Ya Thrive. He stated in an interview that he planned on releasing an album to be called Miracle on Gamble Road, in 2012. He is supposed to appear on Lil Wyte's album Still Doubted.
Non-musical work
Sparxxx has also appeared in the video games Def Jam: Fight for NY and Madden NFL 2004. His song "Back in the Mud" was used by ESPN's "College Gameday" as the 2003 and 2004 theme song. He has participated in a number of television productions and collaborated with the popular "Girls Gone Wild" brand to shoot two DVDs detailing life as a rap star. Sparxxx has featured on MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen (Kristy Landers episode) and was a mentor in MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar. He has been a guest on each major late-night show, including Saturday Night Live, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In 2003, Sparxxx donated his time to travel to Kuwait and Iraq to perform for U.S. troops along with Blink-182, Wayne Newton and Kid Rock amongst others.
