''Return of the Bumpasaurus'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper

Sir Mix-a-Lot Anthony L. Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot or his CB handle Prime Minista, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 1992 hit song " Baby Got Back", which peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' ...

. It was released on August 27, 1996, via American Recordings. The recording sessions took place at Mix-A-Lot Studios in Auburn, with

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s in which he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and obse ...

recorded live at

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on March 27, 1996. The album was produced by Quaze, Mike Kumagai, Funk Daddy, and Sir Mix-a-Lot, who also served as executive producer with Ricardo Frazer and

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

. It features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from Amy Dorsey, Jackers, Anetta Perry, Barney "Soul Dog" Huggins and Michele Jennings. The album peaked at number 123 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number 55 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

in the United States. Its

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

"Jump on It" made it to 97 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 89 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

, No. 92 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs, No. 27 on the

Hot Rap Songs Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

, No. 35 on the

Rhythmic Airplay The Rhythmic chart (also called Rhythmic Airplay, and previously named Rhythmic Songs, Rhythmic Top 40 and CHR/Rhythmic) is an airplay chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on ...

and No. 37 on the

Dance Singles Sales The Dance Singles Sales was a record chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling dance singles in the United States. Its previous names include Hot Dance/Disco 12-inch Singles Sales (1985–1987), Hot Dance Mu ...

in the US.

Critical reception

Cheo Hodari Coker Cheo Hodari Coker is an American former music journalist turned television writer and producer known for such television series as ''Luke Cage (TV series), Luke Cage'', ''NCIS: Los Angeles'', ''Southland (TV series), Southland'' and ''Ray Donovan ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called the album "chock-full of the high beat-per-minute jams and molasses-thick grooves that made the self-proclaimed 'J.R. Ewing' of the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

rap scene a multimillionaire in the first place".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' called it "stupid, funky" and highlighted songs "Jump on It" and "Bark Like You Want It".

Nisid Hajari Nisid Hajari is an Indian-American writer, editor and foreign affairs analyst. He is the author of '' Midnight's Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India's Partition'', winner of the 2016 Colby Award. Personal life Hajari was born in Bombay and raised ...

of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' concluded: "unfortunately, too many cuts on ''Return of the Bumpasaurus'' reach back only one decade instead of two, settling for tiny perkiness that's more Cameo than George Clinton". J. D. Considine of ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' wrote that "most of the sounds here are decidedly second-hand, adding no fresh flavor to the bass-derived sound Mix-A-Lot has peddled from the start".

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1996 albums Sir Mix-a-Lot albums American Recordings (record label) albums