B.o.B AKA BOBBY RAY SLATES NEW US TOUR; HIP-HOP VIRTUOSO TO JOIN SHWAYZE ON UPCOMING DATES; CRITICAL ACCLAIM CONTINUES TO BUILD AS MULTI-TALENTED ATL MC WRAPS DEBUT ALBUM; “B.o.B PRESENTS THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY RAY” IS DUE LATER THIS YEAR
Rebel Rock Entertainment/Grand Hustle/Atlantic recording artist B.o.B aka Bobby Ray has announced details of his upcoming US tour. The dates – which see the acclaimed rapper joining Shwayze on their “Get U Home Tour” – begin on September 23rd at Chicago’s House of Blues and then continue through mid-October (see attached itinerary).
Hailed as one of hip-hop’s most inventive and exciting young artists, Bobby Ray spent much of this past summer touring alongside Asher Roth and Kid Cudi on the smash “Great Hangover Tour.” The ATL-based rapper’s hugely anticipated debut album, “B.o.B PRESENTS THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY RAY,” is coming soon.
Named among XXL’s “10 Freshmen of 2009,” Bobby Ray has been drawing ecstatic press in recent months. Smooth celebrated the multi-talented MC’s “virtuosic talent” and “lyrical directness,” while Ozone called him “one of the most anticipated newcomers in the game.” Nylon hailed Bobby Ray as a leading figure of “a new generation of hip-hop upstarts” and the Wall Street Journal concurred, praising B.o.B for “testing the genre’s conventions.” Additional profiles have appeared in such publications as Complex and Paste, which included Bobby Ray in its “The Best of What’s Next ‘09” round-up.
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Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, a city known for its outcasts, B.o.B aka Bobby Ray is truly out of the ordinary. The rapper – born Bobby Ray Simmons – is already a significant force in Southern hip-hop, having captured underground interest with a variety of mixtapes and his smokers anthem, “Cloud 9.”
In 2006, while he was still attending high school, B.o.B came to the attention of renowned producer/songwriter Jim Jonsin (Lil’ Wayne, Pretty Ricky, Twista, Danity Kane, Trick Daddy), who promptly signed the young MC to his Rebel Rock Entertainment label.
An accomplished musician and producer, Bobby Ray scored a breakthrough hit in 2008 with the smash single/video, “Haterz Everywhere,” which was an MTV “Jam of the Week” as well as a top 10 hit on the network’s Sucker Free Countdown. A wide range of media attention greeted the talented young rapper’s arrival on the hip-hop scene, with features and reviews appearing in such national publications and online outlets as The Source, Complex, Spin, URB, XXL, Fader, Rolling Stone, and Murderdog. Vibe recently hailed Bobby Ray’s leading role in the emerging ATL sound, noting that “a musical renaissance has begun to take shape, and locals like B.o.B are putting a new movement in motion.”
Bobby Ray also established a major presence online, having now logged over 15 million total plays at his official MySpace page, www.myspace.com/bobatl. In addition, B.o.B’s official website, www.bobatl.com, has been recently launched with tons of exclusive tracks, videos and user-generated features.
As if all that weren’t enough, B.o.B recently teamed up with Reebok on a unique reinterpretation of A Tribe Called Quest’s classic “Bonita Applebum” in celebration of the Reebok Classic Remix collection. The track – titled “Put Me On” – is available for download exclusively to customers who purchase styles from the Reebok Classic Remix collection at Foot Locker stores nationwide (for further details, please visit www.footlockerunlocked.com/classicremix).
Now Bobby Ray is focusing all his substantial energies on creating the upcoming “B.o.B PRESENTS THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY RAY,” producing the majority of the album by himself, while also learning to play multiple musical instruments, including piano, trumpet and French horn. The result is a funky and fascinating journey into a gifted new artist’s far-reaching imagination.
“I just want to show people that there are endless possibilities of what you can do,” Bobby Ray says. “You don’t just have to be a rapper, you don’t just have to be a trapper; you can be anything you want to be and whatever you do, just love it and it will show.”
(TOUR ITINERARY ATTACHED)
B.o.B AKA BOBBY RAY
ON TOUR 2009
All Dates w/Shwayze
SEPTEMBER
23 Chicago, IL House of Blues
25 Cleveland, OH Peabody’s
26 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
28 Norfolk, VA The Norva
29 Baltimore, MD Sonar
30 New Haven, CT Toads Place
OCTOBER
2 S. Hackensack, NJ School of Rock
4 New York, NY Highline Ballroom
6 Providence, RI Lupos
7 Allston, MA Harpers Ferry
9 Buffalo, NY Frightworld
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