Uncle Kracker
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Uncle Kracker (born Matthew Shafer, 9 November 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.
Kracker worked with Kid Rock until he became a solo recording artist in 2000. 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 backing vocals on Rock's 2001 album, Cocky.
2002 saw the release of No Stranger to Shame. It blended rock with blues, rap, country, and swing. It contained the smash 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 released his third album, Seventy-Two and Sunny. The rap element was totally abandoned, leaving a straight forward country-blues offering. It contains the hit single "Rescue".
[edit] Discography
- 2000 - Double Wide
- 2002 - No Stranger to Shame
- 2004 - Seventy Two and Sunny
- 2007 - Happy Hour (Uncle Kracker album) (expected)
