Whatever Happened To...

The beat is unmistakable. The lyrics are unforgettable. All it takes is those first three words and you have an instant party on your hands.



So whatever happened to Sir Mix-a-Lot, who singlehandedly created the ultimate party song with "Baby Got Back" in 1992?

First a little history. Mix (as we at LTD like to call him) was born Anthony Ray in Seattle and created his own record label called Nastymix in 1986, releasing his first hit "Posse on Broadway" that same year. His debut album Swass was released in 1988 and went platinum. He then came out with his second album, Seminar, in 1990 and saw it go gold.

And then... magic.

Sir Mix-a-Lot moves to the Def American label and releases his first album with the label, Mack Daddy, which includes "Baby Got Back". The song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for five weeks in the summer of '92, went double platinum and won the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. Did you know that song won a Grammy? I sure didn't. And yes it is that amazing.

Another awesome fact about the song? MTV would only air the video at night because of its "sexual nature". And now, not even ten years later, we get to watch Snookie in the middle of the day.

After that? Nothing. Talk about a one-hit wonder. He released three more albums from 1994-2003, none of which did anything, and tried a TV career with a show called "Watcher" that lasted exactly five months on UPN.

So where is he now?

According to www.sirmixalot.com (which loads incredibly slowly but is oh so worth the wait), Sir Mix-a-Lot is a producer with Rhyme Cartel Records and has two music acts on his label. Not bad. He also has a Twitter account. Awesome. Follow him at "therealmix" (I don't know how you write that out in Twitter-speak).

But the one thing you know he's definitely still doing? Absolutely getting paid when every movie, TV show, department store chain, you name it wants to use some version of "Baby Got Back". Apparently it was in the movie Shrek and Target did a parody of it to sell backpacks with the phrase "I like backpacks and I cannot lie." I'm pretty sure he is getting some kind of cash money back for this.

Oh and not to mention this SNL skit for Sir Mix-a-Lot's Photo Shop


So while Sir Mix-a-Lot's fame and fortune might have been shortlived, his legend will live on in his music. He's changed the way people look at large butts forever. What a true pioneer.