1989: An interview with Sir Mix-A-Lot before 'Baby Got Back'

Sir Mix-a-lot was born Anthony Ray in Seattle on August 12, 1963. He was rapping in the early ’80s, and co-founded the Nastymix record label in 1983 with his DJ, Nasty Nes, who also hosted Seattle’s first hip-hop radio show.

His first single was 1987’s “Posse on Broadway.” It became a local hit, and paved the way for his first LP, 1988’s Swass. Mix-A-Lot co-founded his own record label, promoted his music himself, produced his own tracks. In 1991, his released his third album Mack Daddy in 1992. The single "Baby Got Back" was a number-one hit that went double platinum and won the 1993 Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance.

Interview highlights: “Rap music is like folk music for inner city kids. It’s so down to earth.”

“I’m anti-gun control. If they can discuss it on 'Crossfire' then I can put it on a record. In ghettos across the U.S., not just the CD (Central District) where I grew up there’s a big problem. If your house is getting robbed and you call the police, they might get there an hour later. If there’s no way to defend yourself then the criminals just win. That’s something I feel strongly about. We’ve been robbed a few times. Since we got guns in the house we haven’t been robbed.”

“I don’t talk about doing crime. I talk about squashing it. But I talk about it in a way some people consider a violent way, but sometimes you have to shake the kids up with something rough to get them to listen.”