My Interview with Bubba Sparxxx

The Liberation of Bubba Sparxxx
By: Will “Deshair” Foskey, WBG

Currently, up 10 spots on the Hot 100 (31-21), Ms. New Booty by the Georgia native, Bubba Sparxxx is gaining unbelievable steam with an estimated break into the Top 10 in two more weeks. But while everyone who knew of the country slanging MC is still scratching their heads wondering, “From what rock did Bubba come back from under”, Sparxxx had so much pain that he wanted to get off of his chest; he was in dire need of having a tremendous weight lifted from off of his heart.

The road to his soon to be released album, “The Charm” which is slated to drop on April 4th, was a dirt road full of bumps and unbalanced levels of gravel. If you really want to know what rock that Bubba was symbolically under, he will tell you in his own words. From his friendship with super-producer Timbaland to some of his personal heartaches that still weighs heavy on his southern soul to this day, Bubba places it all on the line in this exclusive. The topics that we’ve discussed go as follows:

Hip Hop is God
Looking back on the disappointment of his sophomore release, Deliverance
Two Peas in a Pod
A loss that was too hard for Bubba to bare
Talking about his new album, The Charm
Purple Ribbon Tour in the works: I be on It!!!

Enjoy this exclusive in any order you choose…

Hip Hop is God

I’m, “The General of the New South.” I’m at the forefront of everything that the New South embodies. I’m a white kid, from a dirt road, that is completely submerged in the Hip Hop Culture. I eat, sleep and fucking breathe this shit man… it’s God to me. Tell me, what other than religion has united so many people from different walks of life and ethnicities together, like Hip Hop has on a worldwide scale. All kinds of people who wouldn’t fuck with each other are brought together through Hip Hop. I just think that it is so godly…

Looking back on the disappointment of his sophomore release, Deliverance

I didn’t cope. The shit was painful, man. We poured so much into that fucking record, man. I can’t put it into words how much we poured into that fucking record. We bled for that record, we died for that record. But in the end, we knew that it was either going to be feast or famine. We knew that we were either going to have tremendous success or none at all. We knew that we were either going to sell 4,000,000 or 400,000, and we ended up selling 400,000. I can’t listen to that record; I don’t like listening to that record. You know, like I put out Ms. New Booty, which is a side of me that I have shown before. I’ve had songs about the strip clubs and the chicks on my first and second album. I just didn’t put one out as a single. I’ve had songs like Ms. New Booty… Ugly was an up-tempo club banger. Now people are like, “why did you abandon the Deliverance route, how could you do that?” Because it fucking lost me my job, that’s why… period. I’m always going to carry a piece of Deliverance with me, and I’m always going to make substance filled music. But I’m never going to get… over-extended on one… what made Deliverance so special was the fact that it was a concept record, with a united theme all the way through; that was its failure, too. That’s what I know The Charm lacks. I know that its’ not as wonderful of a composition of songs that flow together harmoniously like Deliverance was. But it is a collection of diverse songs that different people will like. As far as coping with it, I still haven’t coped with it.

I sat up so many nights pondering through all of that shit (thinking about what Deliverance could have been, and the mark that it could have made on his career). But you can do that from now until the cows come home. But when shit happens, just wipe your ass and get off the toilet, that’s what my daddy used to say.

Two Peas in a Pod

Normally, for me it always starts with a beat. That’s one of the most important things that I’ve learned from Timbaland. Is that at the end of the day, your voice is another instrument in the music. So my lyrics must come from the track; the sounds, the tempo, the rhythm, everything. From there I come up with a song title. I love to make the song titles interesting. I hate titling a song with the same name that has been done 5 or 6 times before. From there, I come up with the hook and I just plug in the verses. Writing verses have never been hard for me.

We are still cool. I can’t say that our relationship is what it once was, because I used to talk to Timbaland at least 20-30 minutes a day, everyday for 3 years. But he is still there for me, and I am still there for him. There is a lot of pain associated with Beat Club, with the second album especially… I know that it hurts him to think about the whole situation, like it hurts me. It’s deep with us, because it’s not like we didn’t work hard. If you fuck up a situation because you know that you didn’t work hard, and that there are a lot of things that you didn’t do, as far as the effort that you put in, that’s one thing. But to know that you made great music, and that you did everything you possibly could by the book, it’s tough man. There ain’t never going to be any problems between me and Tim… we just went through too much together. Sometimes a relationship can be built on tribulations or on happiness. Our relationship was built on tribulations, things that we endured together, that’s why it’s going to be more lasting.

A loss that was too hard for Bubba to bare

Me and my girl, we just lost a baby. She was about 4 months pregnant, and it happened about a few weeks ago. It was very unexpected. We went to the doctor for a routine check-up, and we learned that the baby’s heart just stopped beating. It was the realest thing in my life that I’ve been through. And I’m still going through it. It’s been on my mind real heavy lately. *I paused the conversation to ask Bubba if he wanted me to still use this information for the article, because I felt his pain, and I know how hard going through a situation like this could be… he replied* If this can help anybody who has gone through it or can relate to it, I hope that it helps. All kinds of crazy things go through your mind; you blame yourself, my girl blamed herself, but it’s not your fault. One out of every five pregnancies is a miscarriage (20%). A lot of people don’t know that. You just have to keep trying. It’s just so hard. You just gotta’ look it in the eyes, face it and deal with it. I got a friend up here in New York that just lost twins. You just never think about that. I was just so focused on the responsibilities of when the baby gets here; I gotta’ make sure that I hold it down. I didn’t even think about that possibility. Anyway…

Talking about his new album, The Charm

I had two other firm titles for the album. The first one that I came up with was, “Live Beginning”, as in the opposite of, “Dead End.” The reason why I decided against that was because after Deliverance, I just decided to never go over anybody’s head again. It’s like at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how powerful your message is if nobody understands what the fuck you’re talking about. Then I was going to call it, “Space Mountain”. But I decided against that, as well. Now it’s The Charm. I feel like I cracked the code on this one. The third time is going to be the charm.

I never ever stirred up the female world as much as I have with Ms. New Booty. We got the http://www.msnewbooty.com/ going on, and the women are going ape-shit about it. I just performed the song for a radio show in Memphis the other night, and it was just pandemonium. It’s just amazing to me. I went from performing shows in front of a thousand people with Ugly. The Deliverance route was totally different; it was like festivals, colleges, Spring Bling type shit. Then to look at me 4 years later, I pick back up with New Booty, and I’m back in the hood like I never left. It’s just interesting to me. There are a lot of loyal folks out there. Hood people are loyal people… once they fuck with you; they will always fuck with you. The Pop audience is a lot more fickle.

I feel that I have a 400,000 strong fan base; that if I take a shit in the box, they will give me the benefit of the doubt. There is still plenty on The Charm for them. If you just really loved Deliverance, if it was me that you loved on that album, not the musical backdrop, but if it was me that you loved, then there is plenty for them to love on this album. I don’t have any banjos, harmonicas or fiddles on The Charm, but I have songs with the same type of subject matter. It’s just balance… that’s what I should have named this album… balance. It was the balance between the Ugly moment that fucking got me rich, and the Deliverance moment that was critically acclaimed, but nearly put me in the poor house.

Purple Ribbon Tour in the works: I be on It!!!

We’re trying to put together a Purple Ribbon Tour; me, Sleepy Brown, Big Boi, Killer Mike, etc. We got a real nice roster. It would be nice if we can get Andre 3000 down with us. We’re going to make it happen, regardless. Just me, Killer, Big, and Sleepy would be huge. I can’t wait to get out there…