Why I Couldn’t Become the 2nd Eminem- Bubba Sparxxx Sadly Reveals

1 February 2023, 9:02 am

18 2 minutes read

Bubba Sparxxx has spoken out about not living up to Interscope Records’ executives’ predictions that the Georgia rapper would become the next Eminem.

Bubba (actual name Warren Mathis) reflected on the creation of his second album, Deliverance, which was distributed by Timbaland’s Beat Club label under the Interscope Records banner.

“It was a different sound,” Bubba said of the 2003 LP. “Tim and I had really went in and did some soul searching and we decided to swing for the fences, you know what I’m saying? “I had just did the ‘We Ready’ Archie [Eversole] joint; it was the biggest I had ever been in Atlanta. People was hyped in the streets about Bubba Sparxxx and I was ready to go get with Lil Jon and come like that. But Tim was like, ‘Think about this: what if we made the music that sounded the way the ‘Ugly’ video looked?’”

Timbaland sought to create an album that best portrayed that aspect of American culture while fusing country, bluegrass, and hip hop. He made reference to Bubba Sparxxx’s breakthrough 2001 song and the riotous film that goes along with it, which embraces the cliches of southern living.

While Bubba was initially opposed to Tim’s idea as it was a huge departure from the sound of his debut album, Dark Nights, Bright Days, once he was sent the beat for “Comin’ Round” he was ready to buy into what Tim was selling. “When he played me that beat, that beat was so jammin’ and so original; I had never heard anything like it,” Bubba said.

Bubba was also being pitched a sales angle by the super producer, who felt that he had to do it in order to live up to the expectations Interscope had set and make up for the underwhelming sales of his debut album.

“‘This is the only way you’re gonna sell 10 million,’” Timbaland is said to have told Bubba. “‘We gotta sell 10 million this time to get caught back up for us not doing the numbers we was supposed to do the first time.’”

Bubba continued: “I had made mistakes the first time too, you know what I’m saying? I think everybody in the situation made mistakes … I think Interscope as a label took things for granted because of the success Eminem had and they thought it was gonna come automatically for me.”