Rapper Bubba Sparxxx
has responded to the growing controversy surrounding his new video and single,
New Booty."
A videoclip for
"Ms. New Booty," which features The Ying Yang Twins, recently premiered
on BET’s 106th & Park countdown show and quickly entered into the
Top 10.
The song was produced
by Mr. Collipark, the hit producer who has crafted hits for Lil’ Jon, The Ying
Yang Twins, Young Jeezy, David Banner and others is currently #5 on Billboard’s
Hot Rap Tracks single’s chart.
The video features
Bubba Sparxxx as a Home TV spokesman and door-to-door salesman "for a miracle
new product" that enhances a woman’s "booty."
"Ms. New Booty
to me, is about a woman who exudes confidence and does her thing with a swagger
that’s unique to her and only her," Sparxxx explained to AllHipHop.com.
"You take a woman, she’s a flower waiting to bloom. Sometimes you meet
a woman, a woman that maybe most people don’t see her beauty. You know with
some adjustments you can bring her beauty out."
Sparxxx explanation
comes amidst criticism of the song and an accompanying website that was being
marketed, www.msnewbooty.com.
The site allowed
18-and-up fans of the song to enter into a seven-week contest seeking to award
"Ms. New Booty" with a part in a new Bubba Sparxxx video.
The site, which
is currently down, allowed users to upload pictures to a "Booty Gallery"
for viewers, who could vote for "Ms. New Booty," as well as access
Sparxxx’s official site.
A widely read statement
titled Radio: The New Child Predator by Paul Porter and Lisa Fagers of
IndustryEars.com was circulated, criticizing the video.
IndustryEars bills
itself as "consortium of entertainment and broadcast industry professionals,
dedicated to promoting justice in the media."
The statement labeled
the song and the marketing of the website as "another conduit to sex, pornography
and misogyny aimed at children."
"The government
fails to arrest or acknowledge these corporate child predators," Porter
and Fagin wrote. "The Federal Communications Commission states, ‘It is
illegal to broadcast sexually explicit content between 6am -10pm daily.’ Meanwhile
the ‘Ms. New Booty’ contest is promoted on radio between the most listened to
times for 12-17 year olds (6pm-10pm). The internet has pornographic websites,
now radio stations that target the youngest demographic help and direct children
straight to them."
Porter and Fagin
urged those offended by the video to contact FCC commissioner Kevin Martin and
voice their dismay.
"Ms. New Booty"
is taken from Sparxxx’s upcoming New South/Purple Ribbon/Virgin album, The
Charm, scheduled to drop on April 4, 2006.
The album features
production by Timbaland, Organized Noize Productions, Purple Ribbon label head
and OutKast member Big Boi, Heatmakers, Mr. DJ & Slimm Jim, Basement Beat
and Mr. Collipark.
So So Def CEO and
Virgin’s President of Urban, Jermaine Dupri, weighed in on the song.
"People are
just really overreacting," Dupri told AllHipHop.com. "It’s just feel
good music. We at Virgin are in no way promoting sex or whatever these media
outlets continue to print."
Sparxxx agreed
with Dupri’s assessment.
"It’s for
the clubs. It’s for females to feel good about. It’s for men to feel good about.
There’s nothing negative going on about it. I’m a little hurt that anyone could
take offense to this song. It’s all about that new chick that’s been hurt and
making her the best she can be. You put the word ‘booty’ on there and every
body says it’s disrespect."