iHipHop Interview – Bubba Sparxxx: Georgia Bulldog…

15 years ago view-show 1,907,631

bubbaspraxxxHitting the scene back in 2001 with his song ‘Ugly, Georgia’s Warren “Bubba Sparxxx” Mathis brought his rural-Atlanta persona to a genre spearheaded by princess cuts and automobiles that come with a 7-figure price tag.

Replacing those items with his tractor/pitch fork mentality, and some assistance from Timbaland, the MC with the Southern draw was able to steer his debut album Dark Days, Bright Nights towards the path of gold status.

He then took more of a grassroots approach on his follow-up record, Deliverance, which lead him right into his third album, The Charm and the song ‘Ms. New Booty’ back in 2006.

Three years removed from one of his biggest hits to date, the artist who makes no qualms about who he is returns with his latest project, The New South, which is a compilation that will feature him along with artists who are under his own label.

So how has the man who gave us ‘Deliverance’ from ‘Ugly,’ and introduced us to ‘New Booty’ been?

Finding that out is a lot easier than looking for a needle in a haystack, and take it from experience, because a person of Bubba Sparxxx’s caliber would know that firsthand…

iHipHop.com: Talk about The New South compilation… What are people going to hear from it?

Bubba Sparxxx: This project was part of my deal with KOCH, and when I singed they wanted me to do more of like an organized mixtape deal that they could put in stores…

So that was part of the deal, and I got my homie Greg Street involved, because I’ve wanted to do something with him for a while…

So this right here is the perfect opportunity for us to get together on a project and put it down, and showcase some of my new music… I know a lot of people want to know where I been at, and also this is to give some up and coming cats some exposure too…

iHipHop.com: So is that what initially gave you the idea to create it the project? To give up and comers a chance to shine?

Bubba Sparxxx: Yeah, I wanted to showcase some artists that I have signed to my label, and also that’s the good thing about doing a project with Greg Street, because there’s no shortage of music… We have all these records, and some of the cats I had relationships with in the past, and some of the stuff was no politics to it… I heard a hot record, and Greg [Street] liked it, so we were like, “Lets put it on there.”

iHipHop.com: Do you think that’s a major problem in Hip-Hop or just music in general right now? Just the fact that a lot of established acts aren’t reaching back to help out others?

Bubba Sparxxx: Yeah, I think that’s a heavy problem in the game right now, you know?

iHipHop.com: With you now giving these new acts a chance, do you at all feel as if you’re actually competing against them as well?

Bubba Sparxxx: Nah, I don’t because the audience that they’re getting ain’t going to mess with me anyway… My audience wouldn’t mess with them either, and that’s just a generational thing…

iHipHop.com: How did you go about finding the MC’s that you wanted to be part of the project?

Bubba Sparxxx: It was a mixture of me realizing what people wanted to hear, and I’m 30-years-old man… Hip-Hop is a youth-driven culture, and the fans are usually 18 to 22, and probably a little younger than that…

So I might be a couple of generations off from what they like… It’s not like I’m an old man by any stretch, but I can’t get caught up in what I like… If the youth likes something, it’s your business to figure out why they like it…

iHipHop.com: Are people going to hear a lot of you on the album too, or did you take a backseat?

Bubba Sparxxx: I’d say about half of the album is me, and the other half is for the new cats to get their exposure… We’re also giving some new producers exposure on the album too…

bubba-blog1iHipHop.com: How did you first hook up with KOCH/E1 for this record? Did they reach out to you?

Bubba Sparxxx: They reached out to us a long time ago, and we always had a pretty good relationship… So they called my manager up to see if we were interested in doing something…

iHipHop.com: With this basically being a compilation album, do you also have an official project in the works some time soon?

Bubba Sparxxx: My official album is coming out this summer… It’s going to have production by Polow da Don, Mr. Collipark, and Organized Noize… It’s called The Impolite Gentleman, and it’s going down…

iHipHop.com: Are you going to be working with Timbaland as well?

Bubba Sparxxx: Yeah, Tim’s going to be working on it too… I actually just spent a week in LA with him and Polow [da Don]

iHipHop.com: You first hit the scene back in ’01. So from then to now, have you found it difficult keeping your name in circulation?

Bubba Sparxxx: Yeah, it is tough… Because there’s someone always fighting to help forgot your name, so people can remember their name everyday… It is hard, but I don’t feel threatened in a sense because I know that I have my own lane… My lane is my lane, and there’s still no one even near “Bubba Sparxxx.

That’s why Eminem can take five years off, and come back, and not to compare his success to mine, but he was still able sell millions of records… That’s what you have to strive for, and that’s to carve your own niche…

iHipHop.com: Also, in that time period, how do you think you’ve grown as an artist?

Bubba Sparxxx: I’ve grown too much, and I wish I wasn’t as naïve as I used to be…

iHipHop.com: For the past two years you’ve been basically touring, and doing a lot of shows; but do you ever get exhausted from it all?

Bubba Sparxxx: Nah man because I’ve actually been blessed, and I’m at a point now where I can go out and do shows every month… Like I do 4-5 shows every month, and make pretty good money… So that’s just a blessing…