“Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” singer Trace Adkins has brought country to hip-hop with his bizarre mixture of blingin’ rap imagery, down-south country girls, cheap beer and feverishly catchy honky tonk stylings. Why didn’t someone think of this sooner?
Like his country contemporary Toby Keith, Adkins’s first job was on an industrial oil rig in the southern U.S. Born January 13, 1962 in Sarepta, Louisiana, Adkins played guitar all his life but didn’t break out as a major country act until the late 90s. Before then he played with the band The New Commitments, but went solo in the early 90s to play honky tonk bars throughout the south. He became somewhat famous on the circuit, and eventually signed a record deal with Capitol after moving to Nashville. His 1996 debut album, “Dreamin’ Out Loud,” saw terrific sales and even yielded his only #1 hit on the Country charts to date, “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing.”
Adkins has released eight albums, including a Greatest Hits volume in 2001. His two most recent albums, “Songs About Me” and “Dangerous Man,” have both been hits with the former producing the surprise pop hit “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk,” which spawned a notorious video that hilariously mixes country and hip-hop aesthetics. Adkins remains a favorite of bar-going country fans around the U.S.