Sir Mix-A-Lot Explains Why Being Banned Helped ‘Baby Got Back’ Stand The Test Of Time

Sir Mix-A-Lot has some theories as to why his hit song “Baby Got Back” is still popular 30 years after its release.

The rapper told Fox News Digital that “there’s a lot of coincidence … a lot of luck,” adding that “you can have the biggest song in the world,” but if there’s nothing special about it, it’s not going to go anywhere.

“‘Baby Got Back,’ at its peak, was banned from MTV or demoted after 9 p.m. Whatever it is, I call it forbidden,” he recalls. “That might have affected the song because every person who was probably a teenager under 25 at the time remembers himself as the forbidden fruit at any given time. Go back to the 60s. In the 60s, everyone felt like they were banned. fruit And those ’60s songs still hold up today.”

Sir Mix-A-Lot says he knew the song was going to be a success “all the time”, he just got lucky, adding: “I really appreciate it. Knock on wood!”

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When it comes to today’s music and the rise in popularity of female rappers, Sir Mix-A-Lot says he’s “not that grumpy old man” sitting around wondering “how could these girls do it.” He celebrates their achievements.

“I’m glad that people kind of allowed this kind of beauty to be witnessed in public,” he said. “If I came out after Meghan T Stallion and Cardi B and Nicki Minaj and those guys, ‘Baby Got Back’ wouldn’t have happened. I’d probably just be an artist.”

Now, in collaboration with Chex Mix, the rapper has remixed his hit song, changing the lyrics to “Bagel Chip is Back” to celebrate the return of bagel chips in the snack bag. He had a great time working with General Mills, calling it a “cool company to work with.”

“I wasn’t squeamish by any means. Those guys weren’t saying, ‘Can’t you?’, which is what I work with most brands,” he explained. “We work with brands and it’s like, ‘Can you be less hip hop? Can’t you wear a necklace and not say no and maybe not?’ And they didn’t do that, they let me be me while still getting the message across.”

One thing he appreciated about working with the brand is that he got to know himself as an artist, and he got to know the company before working with it.

“I just don’t like working with companies that just hire you. I want to experience the culture,” he said.

In addition to partnering with Chex Mix, Sir Mix-A-Lot is working to help Seattle music venues get back on their feet after COVID-19 shut them down for a year, putting them at risk of closing their doors permanently. is

“We got together with a bunch of other people and raised some money. It took about 18 months and we saved about 65-70 percent of the clubs we were trying to save,” the rapper said. “So because those clubs, me, Pearl Jam, to Hendrix, those clubs gave birth to us. And it would be ridiculous for us to turn away from them.”

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The rapper says many of his musical influences come from a time he noted when all artists were considered “forbidden fruit,” citing James Brown and “Clyde Stubblefield, the guy who was hitting for James Brown.”

“That’s where ‘Funky Drummer’ came from, which is probably the most sampled song in hip-hop history,” he said. “But that’s where Cold Sweat came from, which got me in trouble in high school because I was always banging on tables with my hands because it wasn’t boom-pat, boom, boom, boom. I loved it. some kind of”:

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One of his biggest influences, however, was the German band Kraftwerk, who was “doing all this electronic stuff. … I realized I didn’t need a band at that point, and that got me into it,” adding that Prince was also in one. a big influence because he “was totally pop and didn’t give a damn what you thought about it.”