Anthony Ray (born August 12, 1963), better known by his stage name Sir Mix-a-Lot, is an emcee and producer based in Seattle, Washington. The founder of the Nastymix record label, he debuted in 1988 with Swass. In 1992, he debuted on a major label with his album Mack Daddy, whose single "Baby Got Back" reached the top of the Billboard charts and won a Grammy Award. While best known for a song about the female anatomy, Mix-a-Lot's lyrics are often more about real-life issues in the African-American community such as young black men's foolish choices, harassment by the police, and false public perceptions of Hip-Hop artists' daily lives.

In 1986, Sir Mix-a-Lot and his DJ, Nasty Nes founded the Nastymix record label. His first hit, released in 1987, was the single "Posse on Broadway," whose title referred to a street in Seattle's Capitol Hill district. The Godzilla remix of "Posse on Broadway" contained a sample from David Bowie's 1975 hit "Fame," but neither the album version nor the original seven-inch edit version (which was used for the video) used the Bowie sample. Swass, his debut album, was released in 1988, with two other singles: "Square-Dance Rap" and a hip hop cover of the Black Sabbath song "Iron Man" backed by the band Metal Church. In 1990, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified Swass platinum for selling a million copies.