If we're talking black and white, and we are, then Georgia's Bubba Sparxxx, who plays at the Knitting Factory tonight, is worth mentioning. You might from Sparxxx from his far-from-enlightened ode to ass, “Ms. New Booty” (though we do appreciate that Sparxxx addresses said Booty with the respectful, liberated “Ms.”). But his earlier stuff, released on Timbaland's boutique label Blackground in the late 1990s, is pretty smoking, and Sparxxx, who has a smooth flow and a southern twang, works amazingly well behind Timbaland's early jerky beats.

On the great “Ugly,” released around the time of Missy Elliott's “Get Your Freak On,” Timbaland swaps riddims, moving from “Ugly” to “Get Your Freak On” to “Ugly” and back again. It's a great track.

Note: for some silly reason, Universal doesn't allow embeds of Bubba's official videos (a few of which are Marc Klasfield- or Bryan Singer-directed classics, including one in which a bunch of Georgia hoo-ha farmers breakdance in a pig pen), so we can't offer you any of them. Why, exactly, the company is so protective of a bunch of videos that never did that well in the first place by a rapper that the label might never recoup on is beyond comprehension. So, anyway, here's an unauthorized drum & bass version (which will never make Uni any money).

Bubba Sparxxx is at the Knitting Factory tonight.

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