Born Anthony Ray, August 12, 1963, in the projects of Seattle, Sir Mix-a-Lot put the city on the map for early, West Coast rap and hip-hop. He began his career as a club DJ in the early 80's, where he started using the pseudonym. By 1985 he already released a hit single, Square Dance Rap, followed the next year by Posse on Broadway, both released on his own label.
His style was unique, a blend of everything from Public Enemy to Devo and Kraftwerk; one of his earliest songs was a cover of Iron Man by Black Sabbath.
In 1988 he released his first two albums, Seminar and Swass, which went gold and platinum, respectively. After another 4 years of touring and studio work, he released his biggest hit, Mack Daddy, with the song Baby Got Back. The song became the 2nd largest single of the year for 1992, and won him a Grammy for Best Rap Performance.
Sir Mix-a-Lot's career began to die pretty quickly after that. Chief Booty Knocka, released in 1994, received a pretty lukewarm response. For the next year, he starred in the spectacular failure, UPN's The Watcher. After that, he seems to have disappeared for a while.
Sir Mix-a-Lot started his comeback in 2000, fueled by the release of Beepers, Benzos and Booty: The Best of Sir Mix-a-Lot, on the Rhino record label. He is currently a member of the band Subset, formed by several of the members of the late, great The Presidents of the United States of America.