Sir Mix-a-Lot

Anthony L. Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot, is an American rapper, songwriter, and recording producer. He is best known for his 1992 hit song "Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

Sir Mix-a-Lot
Sir Mix-a-Lot in December 2006
Background information
Birth nameAnthony L. Ray
Born (1963-08-12) August 12, 1963
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
GenresHip hop
Occupation(s)Rapper, songwriter, producer
Years active1979–2003, 2006–present
Labels
Associated actsRick Rubin
Websitesirmixalot.com

Early life

Anthony Ray was born on August 12, 1963, in Auburn, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, and grew up in Seattle's Central District. Growing up, Ray's mother worked as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) at the King County Jail making 6 or 7 dollars an hour. Ray was a fan of hip hop and started rhyming in the early 1980s.[1]

While living in the Bryant Manor apartments on 19th Ave and East Yesler Way, Anthony Ray started school at Roosevelt High School, near the University District, when the Seattle Public School District was in the throes of what would be a 21-year experiment to integrate the school system. Students were bused from their neighborhoods to schools at the other end of the city. From 1978, when the busing program started, to 1999, when it was shelved, minorities carried the burden of busing, piling onto buses from the South End and the Central Area that were headed for predominantly white schools in the North End.[2]

Ray said he knew that some North End residents didn't want black kids bused into their neighborhoods. But for him, the experience offered respite from the projects. "I’ve heard things like, 'Forced integration is not good,' 'I want my kid to be able to go to school in our community; that’s why we moved here' – all those things I totally understand," he said. "But from my perspective, I didn’t have the luxury of living in a neighborhood where a good school was. We didn’t make that kind of money. So from my perspective, it was the best thing that could have happened to me."[2] A music teacher at Eckstein Middle School introduced Ray to the possibility of a music career. Before becoming a rapper, Ray at an early age was interested in electronics and CB radio, one of his early jobs was working at a pinball arcade servicing machines, during that time he also started to fix keyboards and other musical equipment. He still works with electronics as a hobby.[3]

Career

1980s

Early on, Sir Mix-A-Lot had an ear and a passion for music. Soon after high school he began DJing parties at local community centers.[4] By 1983 Mix-A-Lot had begun playing weekends regularly at the Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club in South Seattle. Soon he moved locations and started throwing his parties at the Rotary Boys and Girls Club in the Central District. It was there that he met 'Nasty' Nes Rodriguez, a local radio DJ and host of Fresh Tracks, the West Coast's first rap radio show on Seattle station KKFX (KFOX).[5]

Sir Mix-a-Lot partnered with Nasty Nes and local businessman Ed Locke to found the Nastymix record label in 1983.[6] The first song to gain popularity outside of Seattle was "Square Dance Rap" in 1986. Mix-a-Lot had originally decided to rap the entire song slow, then speed and pitch it up in post production, Mix later told Seattle Refined in 2018 that "I didn't want to rap, that's why I use this weird Smurf voice".[7] After the song was picked up by DJs in clubs nationwide, he went touring in Florida, New York, and other states. While in Arizona, he noticed a street named Broadway with a restaurant named Dick's, just like Seattle. This gave him the idea to write his next hit "Posse on Broadway".[8]

Mix-a-Lot's next hit, released in 1987, was the single "Posse on Broadway," whose title referred to Broadway in Seattle's Capitol Hill district.[9] The song made the Top 100 but quickly disappeared, although it remains popular in the Seattle area for its references to many local landmarks.

Swass, Sir Mix-a-Lot's debut album, was released in 1988 with two other singles: "Square-Dance Rap" and a hip hop cover of the Black Sabbath song "Iron Man" backed by the band Metal Church.[9] In 1990, the Recording Industry Association of America certified Swass platinum.[10]

Seminar, released in 1989 featured "My Hooptie", "Beepers", "Gortex" and "I Got Game".

1990s

In 1991, Sir Mix-A-Lot signed to the Def American label, which also bought the rights to his first two albums, and released his third album Mack Daddy in 1992. The single "Baby Got Back" was a number-one hit that went double platinum[10] and won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.[11] MTV aired the music video for the song only after 9 PM because of "many, many, complaints."[12]

In 1993, Sir Mix-a-Lot collaborated with Seattle-based grunge band Mudhoney for the song "Freak Momma" on the Judgment Night soundtrack.[9]

In 1994, he released Chief Boot Knocka and the album reached #69 on the Billboard 200 and #28 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Charts. The album featured the hit single "Put 'Em On The Glass." "Just Da Pimpin' in Me" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance but lost to "Let Me Ride" by Dr. Dre.

When his 1996 album, Return of the Bumpasaurus, was only given a low label promotion, leading to lackluster sales, Sir Mix-a-Lot left the American label. During the time off, he worked closely with another band, The Presidents of the United States of America under the group name "Subset" with a combination of rock and rap music, but nothing was ever officially released.[13]

2000s

Sir Mix-a-Lot signed with the independent label Artist Direct for his 2003 album Daddy's Home with "Big Johnson" as its lead single.[9][14]

In 2006, Sir Mix-a-Lot appeared on Adult Swim's Tom Goes to the Mayor.

In 2008, Sir Mix-a-Lot appeared on Adult Swim's Robot Chicken singing a song entitled, "Table Be Round". It was sung in the style of his famous song "Baby Got Back", but in reference to King Arthur's creation story of the Round Table. He also voiced politician Hans Blix and singer Stevie Wonder in the season 3 finale.

2010s

In 2010, Sir Mix-a-Lot announced his next album, Dun 4got About Mix. The lead single "Carz" was released to YouTube on 23 Nov 2010. By June 2011, the video had acquired over a million views, although no release date for the album has been set.[10] In the same year, his F.U.B.A.R. Remix for the song Conditions Of My Parole appeared on Puscifer's remix album All Re-Mixed Up.[15]

In 2013, Sir Mix-a-Lot produced the album "Dream" for the urban rock band Ayron Jones and the Way. Mix-a-Lot opened for Ayron Jones and the Way for their album release party at Neumos on November 2. Also in 2013, Sir Mix-a-Lot promoted the Washington State Lottery over the Christmas season, with advertisements featuring his music appearing on Spotify.[16]

On June 6, 2014, Sir Mix-a-Lot collaborated and performed with the Seattle Symphony on a new composition by Gabriel Prokofiev as part of the symphony's Sonic Evolution series of new orchestral pieces inspired by Seattle's music icons.[17][18][19]

In 2014, Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj released the single "Anaconda",[20] which prominently featured samples from "Baby Got Back." Sir Mix-a-Lot praised both the artist and the song, calling it the "new and improved version" of "Baby Got Back."[21]

In March 2016, Sir Mix-a-Lot collaborated with TNT and LK on the track and video, "Streets Don't Love Me".[22]

From 2017 to 2019, Sir Mix-a-Lot hosted a morning radio show based in Seattle on Hot 103.7 FM. He owns multiple residences, including one in Auburn, Washington where he has continued to maintain a strong presence performing at small festivals across the country.

He appeared in an episode of Season 4 of BoJack Horseman playing himself.

In 2019 he became the spokesperson for Cards Against Humanity's new "Ass Pack".[23]

Other work

In 1995 Sir Mix-A-Lot was the regular host of the short-lived UPN anthology drama series The Watcher, in which, in 2000, he was quoted in Vibe magazine as saying "in retrospect, I wish I hadn't done (the show)"[24]

Sir Mix-A-Lot provides narration and commentary in Wheedle's Groove, a 2009 documentary about the Seattle 1960s and 70s funk and soul scene.[25]

In June 2018, a special on the DIY Network called Sir Mix-A-Lot’s House Remix was aired, which involved Mix-A-Lot buying and flipping a house in his hometown of Seattle.[26]

Discography
Main article: Sir Mix-a-Lot discography
gollark: That's not exactly better if it leads to worse outcomes.
gollark: I mean, if you go around trying revolutioning, this will:- probably turn out badly for you- also probably not do much
gollark: I don't agree. "People" in aggregate can, but you aren't that.
gollark: This is the "missing the point" bit and it is inevitable until I finish scrolling down.
gollark: It's silly to blame people for "not doing anything" to attempt to change things when they cannot, in fact, actually do much, and you're missing the point linking lists of revolutions and such (besides, how many actually went *well*?).

References
  1. "Sir Mix-a-Lot Biography". Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  2. "Busing Blues". Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  3. Bomani Jones (19 August 2018). "Sir Mix-A-Lot". ESPN (Podcast). ESPN Radio. Event occurs at 12:24. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  4. "Going Way Back A Brief History of 206 Hiphop". Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  5. "Sir Mix-A-Lot / Ray, Anthony". Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  6. Blecha, Peter. "Nastymix Records' party marks Gold Record awarded to Sir Mix-A-Lot's SWASS album on April 29, 1989". www.historylink.org. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  7. Karlinsky, Malia (20 September 2018). "Rapping with the King of Old School: Seattle's own Sir Mix-A-Lot". Seattle Refined. Sinclair Broadcast Group. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  8. Weingarten, Christopher R. (6 November 2018). "Best of '88: How Sir-Mix-A-Lot's 'Posse on Broadway' Put Seattle on Rap's Map". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  9. Huey, Steve (2003). "Sir Mix-A-Lot – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  10. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  11. "Sir Mix-A-Lot – Charts & Awards – Grammy Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  12. Rosen, Craig; Newman, Melinda (Jun 27, 1992). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 4. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  13. Horowitz, Steven J. (September 12, 2014). "Sir Mix-A-Lot on Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda,' Booty Fever & New Music". Billboard. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  14. Kaufman, Gil (2003-08-01). "Sir Mix-A-Lot Hoping Baby's Got Comeback". MTV News. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
  15. Martins, Chris. "Sir Mix-a-Lot's Puscifer Remix Laces 'Conditions of My Parole' With Noisy Wubs". SPIN. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  16. "Washington's Lottery - Happy Holidays Lottery". Walottery.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  17. Cross, Charles R. (2014-06-07). "Sir Mix-A-Lot had a lot of fun with Seattle Symphony". Seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  18. Coleman, Miriam (2014-04-09). "Sir Mix-a-Lot to Perform Classical Music Version of 'Baby Got Back' With Seattle Symphony". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  19. Zak Burns (2014-04-10). "Sir Mix-A-Lot hit gets the Seattle Symphony treatment - Local News". MyNorthwest.com. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  20. "Nicki Minaj - Anaconda". YouTube.com. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  21. Harling, Danielle (2014-08-12). "Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" Dubbed New & Improved "Baby Got Back" By Sir Mix-A-Lot | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales". HipHopDX.com. Retrieved 2015-03-27.
  22. "TNT X Sir Mix-A-Lot X LK - Streets Don't Love Me". YouTube.com. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  23. "Cards Against Humanity Presents: Ass Pack + 2000s Nostalgia Pack". Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  24. Caramanica, Jon (October 2000). VIBE. Vibe Media Group. p. 82. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  25. "Wheedle's Groove | 2010 Seattle International Film Festival | Jennifer Maas | USA - Films". Siff.net. Archived from the original on 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
  26. "'Sir Mix-A-Lot's House Remix' Starring The Grammy Award-Winning Rap Artist Premieres On DIY Network June 30". corporate.discovery.com. Discovery, Inc. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
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