Sir Mix-a-Lot
Sir Mix-a-Lot in December 2006
Background information
Birth name	Anthony Ray
Born	(1963-08-12) August 12, 1963 (age 49) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop, West Coast rap, old school hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, songwriter, producer, performer
Years active	1986–2003 2010–present
Labels	Nastymix/Ichiban, American Recordings, Artist Direct/BMG
Website	www.sirmixalot.com

Anthony Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot, is an American MC and producer based in Seattle, Washington. The founder of the Nastymix record label, he debuted in 1988 with Swass. Sir Mix-a-Lot is best known for his 1992 album Mack Daddy and its Grammy Award-winning single "Baby Got Back."

Career [edit]

In 1986, Sir Mix-a-Lot and his DJ, Nasty Nes, founded the Nastymix record label. His first hit, released in 1987, was the single "Posse on Broadway," whose title referred to a street in Seattle's Capitol Hill district.^[1] The Godzilla remix of "Posse on Broadway" contained a sample from David Bowie's 1975 hit "Fame," but neither the album version nor the original seven-inch edit version (which was used for the video) used the Bowie sample. Swass, his 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.^[1] In 1990, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified Swass platinum for selling a million copies.^[2]

Sir Mix-A-Lot debuted on the Def American label, which also bought the rights of his first two albums, with Mack Daddy in 1992. Its single "Baby Got Back" was a number-one hit that went double platinum^[2] and won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.^[3] MTV aired the video for "Baby Got Back" only during evening hours because of its sexual nature. In 1993, Sir Mix-a-Lot collaborated with Seattle-based grunge group Mudhoney for the song "Freak Momma" on the Judgment Night soundtrack.^[1]

Low label promotion of his 1996 album Return of the Bumpasaurus led Sir Mix-a-Lot to leave the American label. During the three year break, Sir Mix-a-Lot worked closely with another group, 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. Sir Mix-a-Lot signed with the independent Artist Direct label for his 2003 album Daddy's Home with "Big Johnson" as its lead single.^[1][4] Despite having taken several years off from recording, Sir Mix-a-Lot is still known to mix frequently.

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.

Sir Mix-a-Lot is currently producing an album for the up and coming "Black Rock" band Ayron Jones and The Way from Seattle, Washington.

Film, television, videogames [edit]

In 1995, Sir Mix-a-Lot starred as the titular character of the short-lived TV series The Watcher. The show was one of the first dramas aired on the fledgling broadcast network, UPN. Reminiscent of series such as The Twilight Zone, Sir-Mix-a-Lot functioned as an omniscient narrator who introduced each episode, which would feature a new tale set in the seamy underbelly of Las Vegas.

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.^[5] And was in the cast of the videogame GTA:IV as one of the DJs in the radio station The Beat 102.7

Sir Mix-a-Lot performed a brief commercial for a fictional store, My Big Cups, in Tom Goes to the Mayor.

Discography [edit]

• Swass (1988)
• Seminar (1989)
• Mack Daddy (1992)
• Chief Boot Knocka (1994)
• Return of the Bumpasaurus (1996)
• Daddy's Home (2003)

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sir Mix-a-Lot

• Official website
• Sir Mix-a-Lot at the Internet Movie Database
• Sir Mix-a-Lot at Allmusic
• Sir Mix-a-Lot discography at Discogs
• Sir Mix-a-Lot at MTV