Baby Bash 'Super Saucy' album

Baby Bash aka The Smokin’ Nephew, is back. Although he didn’t real go anywhere per se.

Proudly hailing from the underappreciated, but talent laden Bay Area, this Hip-hop and Rap artiste is prepped to make more mainstream headway with the release of Baby I’m Back (Universal).

“Working harder than an ugly stripper man, trying to keep it in motion,” says Baby Bash when asked how he’s been keeping busy since 2003’s Tha Smokin’ Nephew album. Certified gold and creeping surely to platinum status, Bash comfortably made the transition from underground phenomenon to major label star. He spent time between releases touring overseas, where he’s sold millions of records.

“Even on the road I write songs everyday,” says Bash of his dedication to his craft despite a hectic schedule. “My element is being in the studio and vibing out. That’s my thing. Writing hits, hooks and choruses.”

The album will prove to be worth the wait since it is bursting at the seams with Bash’s syrupy smooth delivery and melodic grooves. Continuously growing as an artist, his sponge like implementation of the styles and sounds of the many places his music has taken him has favorably benefited his music.

“Different regions got different ways of life, different ways of talking,” explains Bash. “The Bay is the shit, but other places are the shit too. I went to LA, to Arizona, Salt Lake City, Texas, New York, Chicago [and] instead of being an egotistical cat, I just incorporated everything. ‘Oh, they want some of this? Ok, I’ll do it like this for them. They want some of this? Ok.’ I just networked my own style all into one big menudo pot. [Menudo] is a Mexican soup with all kids of different stuff, like gumbo.”

And Baby I’m Back is indeed packed with various flavors, all appealing to the choosiest of sonic palettes. The majority of the production is still provided by his longtime producer Happy Perez (“That’s my Pharrell and Dr. Dre right there”) along with upcoming producers make contributions, including Akon and Fred Wreck. To Baby B, making sure his production is tight is vital.

“It’s all about the beat,” he rationalizes. “The beat tells me what to say. Is it a killer song? Is it a lovemaking song? Is it a story selling song? Once I get that vibe I just write a melody. After I get the melody, then I write the words.” There is another key ingredient to his method. “I have to use slang. A lot of these rappers are great lyricist but I can’t listen to them cause they don’t use slang.”

Blame his preferences on his Bay Area, specifically Vallejo, CA, upbringing-the slang capital of the world. Though he was raised in less than ideal conditions, he refuses to let that aspect of his life needlessly permeate his music. “People like to dance and have fun sometimes and don’t want to hear how many people you killed and how much dope you sell,” he says.

His personality is as humorously extroverted as it appears on wax, quick to illicit a sidesplitting laugh in easy conversation. It was his skills at cracking jokes- called “siggin’” in The Bay-over beats that allowed him to forgo his hoop dreams (he was a star point guard in High School) to pursue music to make a living, since slaving at a 9 to 5 gig was out of the question. “We were doing it over old school beats and people liked it. I could always stay in tune, in the pocket. That was one of my blessings, my rhythm.”

Scorching R&B artist Akon contributes two tracks, the lead single “Baby I’m Back” and “No Way Jose”. On “No Way Jose” Bash kicks a mellow flow while Akon anchors him with his soulful vocal wailings. No doubt the collaboration will prick up the ears of the unacquainted while satiating those in the know. Bash easily holds his own with Paul Wall on the rowdy synths of “Throwed Off” and with Nate Dogg over the crispy snares and tight hi-hats of “That’s My Lady (Money)”. The album also boasts contributions from fellow Bay Area ambassador E-40 (“100 Miles”) as well as the late Mac Dre (RIP) on “Hennessey”, both of which he notes as key influences. Other artists on the guest list include Pitbull (“Trees”), Avant (“Super Saucy”) and Frankie J on the bonus track “Obsession” which is already an international smash hit.

Besides the aforementioned artists, his musical idols include the reggae of Bob Marley and Steel Pulse, the rock & roll of Lenny Kravitz and the funk of Rick James, to name a few. Also influential was the old school R&B (War, Frankie Lymon, Mary Wells, et. al.) he grew to appreciate because it was all his Chollo (think Mexican B-Boys) uncles played; an unlikely benefit of bouncing from relative to relative due to his parent’s heroin addictions. The result of such a hodge-podge of influences is that Baby Bash’s music incorporates so many styles that it’s difficult to corner him into a specific genre of music.

“I can go from an R&B rap concert to a rhythmic to a pop show, now come do a little half reggae, half conscious rap. I’m a chameleon, wherever I’m at, I’ll fit in,” says Bash.

Since coming on the scene in 1994 with Potna Deuce (he was then going by Baby Beesh), collaborating with Latin rap pioneers N2Deep (he formed Latino Velvet with Jay Tee, who appears on “Hennessey”) to currently working with the top notch artists on his latest album, at a mere 29 years old his rock solid fan base only continues to expand exponentially.

“The Baby Bash fan is the player on the street who wears the Kangol, likes to have a lot of women, likes to marinate, chill, ride Cadillacs on chrome, keep it level headed,” begins Bash. “Not a crazy maniac fool, just a cool cat who ain’t no punk but likes to have a good time and keep money in his pockets. And the fly ass chicks who like to ride with them cats. Not the serious tight in the ass people, but people who just keep it fly.”

Besides looking good, those same fans, new and old, will be sure to just keep pressing ‘Play’.

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Baby Bash - Super Saucy