The humbles beginnings of a Decatur, GA pipe dream have fully manifested into a global phenom. Bobby Ray Simmons has worked his tail off to become an international celebrity. His work ethic has brought forth mixtape after mixtape which led to chart-topping singles found homogeneously on pop and urban radio stations. Read the rest of this entry »

Graphics By Talia

Imagine a label that’s figured it all out.

Imagine the record execs sitting at a board meeting, looking at their financial numbers, in a panic over the state of the company and the music industry in general. The company’s Hip-Hop sales have struggled – a waning roster thinned out by incarcerations and mental breakdowns has crushed the label’s star power. No matter how much money they pump into a Hip-Hop album, and how many fans artist A seems to garner, the label can’t seem to get numbers above 100K. Read the rest of this entry »

The tone and theme behind “Don’t Let Me Fall” – both the song and now the video – create a connection which ties B.o.B’s musical journey to his fans. As a lead for his Adventures…, the four minute track plays like an open prayer where the artist asks listeners to embrace his experiences and creativity. Bobby has a preacher’s voice that dates back to the call and response origins of our music, yelling out to each individual listener, eliciting a unique and emotional response from each person in earshot. Read the rest of this entry »

Not that I actually like this song because I don’t. By now you’re used to us praising B.o.B. but I honestly felt “Magic” was a little too far across the imaginary line of acceptable experimentation in rap and borders on the brink of being Pop, creating a noticeably, out-of-place blemish on The Adventures… Still, I’m all for brothers gettin’ money and stickin’ it to the man so I have to applaud him for receiving Reebok checks as well as a few from adidas for the blatant product placement in this video.

Bobby Ray’s inspirational hit with Hayley gets the strobe light treatment. I see a Jim Jonsin’ cameo in here as well. No Billboard reports needed to determine this chune’s greatness; it passed the in-house charts kept @ the Gotty™ house. Read the rest of this entry »

– Basketball is a team game (how else do you explain this dunk?). But similar to how quarterbacks & pitchers absorb the losses in their respective sports, the wins and losses fall on the star’s shoulders.

– Tila’s bringing real Hip-Hop back one DJ at a time & David D. will be there to capture it all for our enjoyment.

– Relive our adventures with B.o.B & peep his album review. Read the rest of this entry »

Last Tuesday was a special day for us at TSS. B.o.B’s debut effort hit stores and became the #1 album in the country. This was particularly notable as Bobby has been an artist that we’ve followed and written on for two years. As I mentioned before, our efforts to share his music with you didn’t go unnoticed, as TSS was thanked in The Adventures of Bobby Ray’s liner notes. For us, this is a huge acknowledgment as it’s the first time we’ve been mentioned on the liner notes of a retail album. So we must doff our caps to B.o.B and his team for the recognition.

It’s been a joy to watch B. Rich, TJ, Playboy Tre and Bobby ascend to their proper place in music, but let’s not get it twisted, we’ve supported Bobby first and foremost because the music has been fantastic throughout.

Because a few of you have only recently become fans, we thought we’d take you back on a journey through our two years of Bobby Ray coverage so you can witness his rise to prominence ass seen through the TSS lenses. For those of you who have followed Mr. Ray since the beginning, this should be a welcome trip down memory lane.

April 2008 — While we’d posted a few mixtapes in the Strays prior, our very first write-up on B.o.B came two years to the day before Adventures of Bobby Ray came out. Gotty™ shared “Fuck You” off of B.o.B’s What About B.o.B mixtape.

June 2008 — TC followed up in by showcasing B.o.B’s 12th Dimension EP, a collection of four bangers that stayed in rotation.

October 2008 — One song from that EP, “I’ll Be In The Sky” caught MZ’s attention. The song also landed B.o.B his first MTV video. I still argue that if “I’ll Be In The Sky” were re-released today, it’d be another top song in the country. But what do I know?

November 2008 — B.o.B’s Who The F#*K Is B.o.B brought a heavy dose of great music right in time for Bobby’s placement on the infamous XXL Freshman 10 cover.

December 2008 — We had our very first Smoking Session with B.o.B as Lola P. sat down with the budding star to discuss his prospects for the future and the possible toll fame takes on a newcomer.

March 2009 — For our very first GOP, we wanted to highlight someone we were sure was going to be the next big thing as our headliner. The natural pick was B.o.B and he did not disappoint. For most of the crew, it was our first time seeing the man live, and doing so only further convinced us that we were watching a future star.

June 2009 — To carry on the momentum from SXSW, B.o.B dropped his biggest project yet, B.o.B vs. Bobby Ray: The Mixtape. This project showed tremendous growth, whetting the world’s appetite for the eventual album.

September 2009 – As B.o.B-mania was starting to take flight, I caught up with the man himself in Chicago to talk about his performing style, rumors of label troubles and a possible T.I. and Coldplay collaboration. Despite all the fame Bobby was gaining, he was still the humble, jovial cat I met in Austin a few months prior.

January 2010 — Grades were in. B.o.B proved to be top of his XXL freshman class, scoring an A for a stellar year that would only be a precursor for his whirlwind year ahead.

February 2010 — Back when the album was supposed to drop in May, Bob and LRG teamed with DJ Drama to drop the May 25th mixtape which featured an early version of “Bet I” and “Don’t Feel So Good,” a song that helped MZ get through a particularly difficult evening.

April 2010 — It was only fitting that we’d be there at the 11th hour, capturing B.o.B’s excitement and anticipation just 24 hours before his album landed in stores. It was a special moment and one that we at TSS were happy to be a part of.

Beyond — Though it’s been a two-year journey watching B.o.B get to where he is now, don’t think that it’s over. As long as he keeps cranking out music that moves us, we will keep writing on him and keeping his name and music on your minds.

Labeling artists as geniuses or phenoms has become all too common and, for the most part, baseless these days. True, making hits isn’t easy. But, once upon a time, being a professional musician was once considered a career as opposed to a hobby to open the door for other avenues. Already carving out his own lane before achieving national attention, Bobby Ray Simmons burst on the scene as B.o.B, an Atlanta-bred MC with a penchant for wildman-like raps with lyrical flair. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy B.o.B day, everybody. We’re sure you’ve been playing your newly purchased Adventures of Bobby Ray all day. To help bring you further enjoy your listening experience, Bobby, Tip and Tre dropped the visuals to the banger “Bet I Bust.” The visuals are just as action-packed as the song with copious amounts of booty, colors and words falling from the sky.

One more thing: while you’re flipping through your album booklet as these songs play, you can check the liner notes and see that the fresh is respected and represented. Shouts to B.o.B and his team for that great look.

There are just some moments in time that are legendary and, thus, an honor to cover. Being around B.o.B, his band and his managers B. Rich and TJ right before the release of B.o.B’s debut album was an experience that I will undoubtedly tell my kids about. The atmosphere was as electric as it was frantic. There was an anxious fervor in the air with every passing minute.

But despite all of the anticipation and predictions, there was still a show to do as Bobby had to wow a New Orleans crowd that had spent all weekend listening to music at the Jazz Festival. It was a piece of cake. As I’ve said since the first GOP, there isn’t a show out there like a B.o.B show and he proved it again.

There was no time to revel in the great performance as another city was already calling. But that’s a testament to the relentless pace & amount of work that this team has put into B.o.B over the past several years. Back on the tour bus after the show, B.o.B paced around humming melodies to himself and laughing at the fact that he didn’t realize until he was on stage that his #1 single, “Nothing On You” sent a shout out to the Big Easy. B. Rich and TJ feverishly checked e-mails and asked for feedback, always looking for ways to improve. Only a few words were spoken about the performance that just took place before the topic again switched to expectations and hopes for April 27th–the release date for B.o.B’s debut and culmination of all of those years of hard work.

As late Sunday night turned into the wee Monday morning hours, I got Bobby to take a minute for the camera and put into words his excitement for the release of The Adventures Of Bobby Ray. There’s a genuine mix of vivacity along with hints of an exhale. And for good measure and your viewing pleasure, there’s stage footage for the performance of the album’s opening track, “Don’t Let Me Fall.”

While young Bobby Ray got Tip on one track for his Adventures…, this one had to get the snip-snip because Coldplay hates all rappers not named Jay-Z and Kanye. Stick it at the end of the album as you pre-order it, bump it, love it–whatever. The man child has the #1 single in the country. Like the song’s co-star once said, “Big ‘tings poppin.’” Read the rest of this entry »

Even when you have a sturdy, main parachute in tow, it’s always best to keep a spare. With the release of his debut album just a little over a week away, Bobby Ray recruits a noteworthy co-pilot in Eminem to help navigate The Adventures Of Bobby Ray into friendly platinum terriority. You can do your part as well by pre-ordering the latitude. Read the rest of this entry »

The kid with the golden mic is joined by another of the Hip-Hop’s favorites as Bobby & Lupe come together for a track that will be on The Adventures Of…, even if it may end up sounding slightly different. Read the rest of this entry »

In a time when “superstars” are far and few between, every element of the machine is getting behind Bobby. MTV’s full-fledged support? Check, as he’s their PUSH (Play Until Someone Hears) artist of the week. Atlantic? Check, otherwise we’d be offering this for download instead of a stream. The early response to the album from those who’ve heard it? It’s sounding like all of the expectations will be met. So the setup is there. And as “Nothing On You” continues its mash on the charts, I would expect the Hayley Williams-assisted “Airplanes” to follow suit soon enough. So, yes, the stars are aligned for super to happen. Read the rest of this entry »

More complex than a locomotive. Able to strum Stratocasters with a single touch. Simultaneously mending R&B & Hip-Hop in a single alto note–it’s Bobby Ray!!! No superhero is complete without their superpowers and B.o.B. just so happens to possess the gift of music hypnosis. Read the rest of this entry »