“Nothin’ On You (Feat. Bruno Mars)” has proven a true breakout smash for B.o.B, topping Billboard’s “Hot 100” for two weeks and marking the ATL-based rapper as the 4th solo male artist to hit #1 with a debut single since October 2009. The track – which has also been a top seller on iTunes’s “Top Singles” chart – is #1 on this week’s “Rhythmic Airplay” chart – the fastest rising debut track since Drake’s 2009 smash, “Best I Ever Had” – while also drawing top 5 airplay at both Urban and CHR/Top 40 outlets.
“B.o.B PRESENTS: THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY RAY” is also an undeniable digital phenomenon, with total track download sales rapidly approaching 2.5 million. Four individual album tracks are currently populating the “Top 200 Digital Song Chart,” with “Airplanes (Feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore),” the latest single from “B.o.B PRESENTS: THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY RAY,” now in the #2 position. “Airplanes” is also following hot on the heels of “Nothin’ On You,” moving up to #7 on Billboard’s “Hot 100” while standing strong as the #2 best-seller on iTunes’ “Top Singles” chart.
Having spent much of last year sharing stages with such like-minded artists as Asher Roth, Kid Cudi, and Shwayze, B.o.B is currently wrapping up his sold out US tour supporting 1st & 15th/Atlantic labelmate Lupe Fiasco’s “Steppin Laser Tour.” The dates conclude Friday, May 7th at Seattle’s Showbox SoDo. B.o.B also performed at last month’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California – the first of a series of eagerly awaited festival appearances that also includes the upcoming Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival as well as Lollapalooza (see attached itinerary).
Born Bobby Ray Simmons, the ATL-based rapper/musician/producer was recently named “MTV P.U.S.H. (Play Until Someone Hears) Artist Of The Week,” with over 100 promotional spots airing across all MTV platforms. What’s more, he has performed on the nationally syndicated The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with further appearances slated for the May 12th episode of ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! as well as the nationally syndicated The Wendy Williams Show – check local listings for complete details. B.o.B also had recent breakout performances at BET’s Rip The Runway and MTV’s annual Spring Break festivities.
One of hip-hop’s most inventive and exciting young artists, B.o.B has quickly drawn a bounty of rapturous critical applause. In its 2010 “Faces To Watch” feature, Billboard celebrated the rapper’s “versatility,” declaring that he “recalls both OutKast’s Big Boi and crooner Raheem DeVaughn and may be the first rapper to play the guitar well.” XXL – which named B.o.B among its “10 Freshmen of 2009” – called him “ready for stardom,” while John Ivey, program director at Los Angeles’ influential KIIS-FM, told Entertainment Weekly that the multi-talented MC is his pick for “next big thing,” explaining that “a lot of hip-hop guys are just rappers, but (B.o.B) plays guitar and just kills it.”
Furthermore, Smooth celebrated B.o.B’s “virtuosic talent” and “lyrical directness,” while Ozone called him “one of the most anticipated newcomers in the game.” Nylon hailed B.o.B as a leading figure of “a new generation of hip-hop upstarts” and the Wall Street Journal concurred, praising the MC for “testing the genre’s conventions.” Additional profiles have appeared in such publications as Complex and Paste, which included B.o.B in its “The Best of What’s Next ‘09” round-up.
“B.o.B PRESENTS: THE ADVENTURES OF BOBBY RAY” sees the resourceful rapper producing the majority of the album by himself, while also playing multiple musical instruments, including piano, trumpet and French horn. In addition, B.o.B is joined by a star-studded line-up of surprising special guests, including Hayley Williams of Paramore, T.I., Eminem, Janelle Monáe, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Playboy Tre, and Lupe Fiasco. Endlessly inventive tracks such as “5th Dimension” and “Magic” offer a funky and fascinating journey into a gifted new talent’s far-reaching imagination.
“I just want to show people that there are endless possibilities of what you can do,” B.o.B 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.”
For up-to-the-minute news and information, please visit www.bobatl.com, www.myspace.com/bobatl, or www.twitter.com/bobatl.
(TOUR ITINERARY ATTACHED)
B.o.B
ON TOUR 2010
All Dates w/Lupe Fiasco’s “Steppin Laser Tour” Except *
MAY
6 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
7 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo
JUNE
11 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival *
AUGUST
6 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza *
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