Uncle Kracker
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Uncle Kracker (born Matthew Shafer, June 6, 1974, in Mount Clemens, Michigan) is an American rock and country musician.
He started out his career at a young age as a fledgling rapper. He met Kid Rock in 1987, and Rock asked Kracker to become his DJ. Kracker did not know how to work the turntables, but he soon learned how to, and he became a long-term friend and colleague of Rock.
During the mid 90's, Kracker supported his music career by deejaying at a Detroit ghetto strip club called The Pretty Woman. He was featured on Kid Rock's Bootleg Series, on the demo for 'Krack Rocks' and his own demo 'Tin Can People'. The final version of Krack Rocks was on Kid Rock's Early Mornin Stoned Pimp.
Double Wide, Kracker's debut album, was recorded in the back of a tour bus during Kid Rock's various tours in 1999 and 2000. It contains Kracker's first hit single, "Follow Me". It also features a minor hit, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah", which features Kid Rock. As of now, Double Wide has been certified double-platinum by the RIAA. Kracker subsequently provided vocals on Rock's 2001 album, Cocky, on the track 'Trucker Anthem'.He left TBT after Kid Rock's 2002 Cocky Tour to concentrate on his solo career and to spend more time with his wife and kids.
2002 saw the release of No Stranger to Shame. It blended rock with blues, rap, country, soul and swing. It contained the hit single "In a Little While", whose music video contained musician/TV host/supermodel Willa Ford, who acted as Kracker's girlfriend. In reality, Ford is a very close friend of Kracker's. The album also contained the hit singles "Drift Away" (a cover version of the Dobie Gray original), and "Memphis Soul Song".
In 2004, Kracker scored a #1 hit with "When the Sun Goes Down" (a duet with Kenny Chesney off his album "When the Sun Goes Down"). He also released his third album, Seventy Two and Sunny later that year. The rap element was totally abandoned, leaving a straight forward country-blues offering. It contains the hit single "Rescue". Kid Rock & Uncle Kracker were planning a old school rap project called Dick Willy in 2004 but it hasn't seen the light of day.
On November 16, 2006, there was an update posted on Uncle Kracker's website saying that his fourth studio album would be titled "Happy Hour," and was expected to be released sometime after Christmas. However there has not yet been any new website updates and there hads been no news regarding this new studio recording.
[edit] Discography
- 2000 - Double Wide 2 million sold
- 2002 - No Stranger to Shame 500,000 + sold
- 2004 - Seventy Two and Sunny 200,000 + sold
- 2007 - Happy Hour (expected 2007)
