Uncle Kracker
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Uncle Kracker |
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Matthew Shafer (born November 9 1974, Mount Clemens, Michigan) better known by his stage name Uncle Kracker, is an American rock, country, and rap-rock musician, most popularly known for his singles Follow Me and Drift Away. His career was more rap rock based at the start of his career, but then he began making a lot of country on his next two albums.
Biography
Early Years
Matt Shafer was raised in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In 1987, with his brother, he visited a nightclub in Clawson, Michigan and a turntables competition was occurring. His older brother was competing against a then unknown musician, Kid Rock. After the competition, they became friends. Then Shafer spent a lot of time with Kid Rock, and they became "best friends." In those times, he was mainly rapping. He is also known to have gone to the same high school as Eminem.[1]. In 1994, Kid Rock asked Shafer to play turntables for his band called Twisted Brown Trucker. Shafer knew nothing of using turntables, because his brother was the one who used them, but he still agreed. He only performed at live shows at the time, until be began recording for Early Mornin' Stoned Pimp for which he was even featured on for vocals. He then began working on a solo album, but he continued being the DJ for Kid Rock. When Kid Rock's 11x Platinum album, Devil Without a Cause was released, Shafer decided that it was time to release his first solo album, Double Wide.
Double Wide
Double Wide was Uncle Kracker's first solo album. Released on June 30, 2001, it peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 and is so far Shafer's most successful and highest-selling album. The first single taken off the album was Follow Me, which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 on June 09, 2001, and stayed at the top for three weeks. Shafer spent the next ten months on the Billboard 200, and Hot 100 with Double Wide and Follow Me respectably. His second single, Yeah Yeah Yeah never saw the Billboards. Double Wide was certified 2x Platinum on November 29, 2001. [2] After his success he began to work on his second solo album.
No Stranger to Shame
After touring constantly after his success in 2001, he began to work on another album. The album was released on August 27, 2002. Unlike his first album where a rough half of the songs were rap and the other half were a mix of a soft rock and Country style, there were four songs which weren't Country, only two of which were rap. The album did not achieve higher better than only #43 on the Billboard 200, but a hit single was indeed released, entitled Drift Away. Drift Away was a remake featuring Dobie Gray, which peaked as high as #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, and set a record for "Most weeks at #1 on the Adult Contemporary Mainstream Radio Chart" with 22 weeks, and has been on the chart for a total of 160 weeks. His first single from the album was In a Little While, which charted but not as high as Drift Away with peaking only at #59 on the Hot 100 and #26 on the Adult Contemporary charts. A third single was released, Memphis Soul Song, but charted only on the Adult Top 40 at #35. The album reached Gold status after about 10 months of release. After the release, Shafer became good friends with a very popular country star, Kenny Chesney and toured for a few months with him.
Seventy Two and Sunny
After touring, he began working on a third album which he called Seventy Two and Sunny. He had completely abandoned all rap from it, and moved onto a pure country sound. This may have been due to the fact that his most popular songs were all Country Hits, or because he began a great friendship with Kenny Chesney. The album featured only one single, Rescue, which didn't chart at all on any charts whatsoever. Shafer did have some success that year though when he was featured on Chesney's track, When the Sun Goes Down, which peaked at #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and went on to sell to Gold status. To date, Seventy Two and Sunny has sold about 200,000 copies.
Discography
Other Appearances
- Uncle Kracker appeared on the Osmosis Jones soundtrack with the song "Break U Off".
- Uncle Kracker also appeared on Kenny Chesneys hit "When The Sun Goes Down".
- The song "Yeah Yeah Yeah" appeared at the end of Shanghai Noon.
- Uncle Kracker also appeared on the Scooby Doo soundtrack with the song "Freaks Come Out at Night".
- Uncle Kracker also appeared on the Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit sountrack with "Keep it Comin"
References
- ^ "Uncle Kracker On Eminem/ICP Gun Incident". YAHOO!. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
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