Thursday, October 19, 8 p.m.
Rock Island Brewing Company, 1815 Second Avenue, Rock Island IL
With albums including Dark Days, Bright Nights, Deliverance, and The Charm – all of which placed in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 charts – country rapper Bubba Sparxxx will share with RIBCO crowds hits from his 16-year repertoire, including the 2005 smash “Ms. New Booty” that sold more than 500,000 copies nationwide.
Born Warren Anderson Mathis, Georgia native Sparxxx met music-industry veteran (and current manager and business partner) Bobby Stamps in 1996 when Stamps noticed him rapping after a University of Georgia football game, and arranged for Sparxxx to work on his first, locally-produced CD. That album, Dark Days, Bright Nights, caught the attention of Jimmy Iovine of Interscope Records, with whom Sparxxx subsequently signed, and the artist immediately began collaborating with record producers Timbaland and Organized Noise.
The major-label reissue of Dark Days, Bright Nights, released via Timbaland's Beat Club Records imprint, went on to include two collaborations with Organized Noise and five with Timbaland (their song “Ugly” hitting number-six on Billboard's U.S. Rap chart), and debuted at number-three on the Billboard 200. In the years since, Sparxxx has performed his uniquely countrified rap on albums ranging from 2003's Deliverance to 2014's Made on McCosh Mill Road, and his reviews have included raves such as The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin insisting that “creatively, he continues to exceed even the loftiest expectations.”
Tickets to Bubba Sparxxx's October 19 concert are $30 for general admission, $40 for VIP seating, and $60 for general admission plus a meet-and-greet with the artist. For tickets and information, call (309)793-1999 or visit RIBCO.com.
