B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray

by B.o.B

Overview

When asked about his collaboration with pop-punk vocalist Hayley Williams, Atlanta-based alternative hip-hop artist B.o.B responded "Paramore is the sh*t," instantly driving away the hip-hop purists. He went on to declare that the audience for Williams' band was the same audience for Lupe Fiasco, Common, and himself. That's the rapper/producer/songwriter's attitude in a nutshell, and it's also the genre-free, music-loving, and even starry-eyed attitude of his debut album, The Adventures of Bobby Ray, a reference to the B.o.B's real name, Bobby Ray Simmons. "Airplanes" is the Coldplay-sized, emo-rap track with Williams that brings reminders of the Dido/Eminem collaboration "Stan," at least when it comes to rock-solid hooks, since the sentiment here is much more hopeful. The uncrushable B.o.B is always filled with positive vibes and he isn't above pouring on the sweetness as he courts the ladies with hitmaker for hire Bruno Mars on "Nothin' on You," a song that's perfectly packaged for some Hollywood romantic comedy. Add to that "Lovelier Than You," where B.o.B sounds like Wyclef when he plays it sparse, and you've got the poptacular moments, but the street tracks and backpacker material works just as well, with the T.I. feature "Bet I" being Hotlanta at its hottest while "Don't Let Me Fall" is the "where I'm from" track at its best. The chart-friendly side of indie rock shows its influence in the Vampire Weekend-sampling "The Kids" with Janelle Monae plus the retro-electro "Magic" with Rivers Cuomo, which becomes B.o.B's theme song once he drops "I break all the rules like Evil Knievel/I put on a spectacular show because my heart pumps diesel." Even if B.o.B had a couple years of mixtape training before releasing his debut, the most startling thing is how effortless he makes all this genre-juggling seem, especially on repeat listens as the album evolves from a high-caliber collection of singles to a unified body of work. There's little evidence here that this would even be possible without the work of Andre 3000, Kanye, and Drake, and B.o.B definitely loves new ideas more than he generates them. Still, he's an amazing ringmaster for the age of mash-ups and wonky pop, and for his debut album he's equally thrilling as the main attraction. ~ David Jeffries

Product Details

Release Date:	06/06/2025
Label:	Atlantic
UPC:	0603497815371

Album Credits

Performance Credits

B.o.B   Primary Artist,Vocals
Eminem   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Janelle Monae   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Ricco Barrino   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Hayley Williams   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Playboy Tre   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
T.I.   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Lupe Fiasco   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Rivers Cuomo   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Bruno Mars   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Kyle King   Guitar
J Browz   Guitar
Johnny Browz   Guitar
Ali Warren   Drums
Brody Brown   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Kato   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Josh Lopez   Guitar
Flo Rida   Vocals
The Ejyptsian Queen   Vocals
Luis Resto   Keyboards

Technical Credits

Mike Wilson   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Dr. Nathaniel Irvin III   Composer
Mike Strange   Mixing,Engineer,Recording,Vocal Engineer
Alexander Grant   Composer
Juan Pablo Negrete   Engineer,Recording,Audio Engineer
Lukasz Gottwald   Composer
Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr.   Composer
JD Butler   Assistant Engineer
Kenny Mixx   Mastering
Rob Gold   Art Manager,Art Producer
Christopher Lanie   Composer
Ezra Ko   Composer
Paul Bailey   Recording,Engineer,Recording,Audio Engineer
Adelino Lombardi   Mixing
Kuttah   Producer
Lil' C   Producer
Kentrell Gaulden   Composer
Kutt The Check   Producer
Bruno Mars   Instrumentation,Composer,Musician
Aniela Gottwald   Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Emily Wright   Engineer,Vocal Editing
Frank E.   Producer
Philip Lawrence   Composer
Manny Marraquin   Mixing
Dr. Luke   Musician,Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Michael Strange Jr.   Mixing,Vocal Engineer
Aaron Bay-Schuck   A&R
Doug Peterson   Associate Producer
Lu   Composer
LaTrice Burnette   Marketing
Pamela Simon   Packaging Manager
Sam Holland   Engineer
Marshall Mathers   Composer
Dorothy Heyward   Composer
Adelio Lombardi   Mixing
Sydney Margetson   Publicity
Christine Dominguez   Composer
Irene Richter   Production Coordination
Kentrell Lindsey   Composer
Shanieke Peru   Stylist
Sam Riback   A&R
Greg Magers   Audio Engineer
Ryan Brady   Marketing
Anne Declemente   A&R
Alex Kirzhner   Design
Vanessa Silberman   Production Coordination
The Smeezingtons   Producer
DJ Frank E   Producer
Kassim Vonicco Washington   Composer
Megan Dennis   Production Coordination
Chris Tomson   Composer
Peter Hernandez   Composer
Alvin Lindsay   Composer
Brian Dackowski   Marketing
Tim Sommers   Composer
Alex Schwartz   A&R
Jesse McMullen, Jr.   Composer
Joe Fitz   Mixing,Engineer,Audio Engineer
Justin Franks   Composer
Christopher Lanier   Composer
Clarence Montgomery III   Composer
Howard Coney   Composer
Cordale Quinn   Composer
John Frye   Mixing
Clifford Harris   Composer
Tim Roberts   Mixing Engineer,Mixing Assistant
Amy Winehouse   Composer
Manny Marroquin   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Rostam Batmanglij   Composer
Ezra Koenig   Composer
Chris Baio   Composer
B.o.B   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Recording,Audio Engineer,Executive Producer
Ari Levine   Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Musician,Recording,Audio Engineer,Instrumentation
James Nyx   Composer
Jim Jonsin   Executive Producer
John Coster   Marketing
Rivers Cuomo   Composer,Musician,Instrumentation
Alex Grant   Composer
Janelle Monae   Composer
"Lil" C-Style   Producer
Greg "G Ball" Magers   Engineer
Mike Caren   A&R
The Knux   Producer
Christian Plata   Assistant,Mixing Engineer
Alex da Kid   Producer
Erik Madrid   Assistant,Mixing Engineer
T.I.   Producer,Executive Producer
Serban Ghenea   Mixing
B-Rich   Associate Producer
Chris Gehringer   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Eminem   Mixing,Additional Production,Producer
Jeremy Dussolliet   Composer
Zekuumba Zekkariyas   Composer
George Gershwin   Composer
Ira Gershwin   Composer
DuBose Heyward   Composer
John Hanes   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Lupe Fiasco   Composer
Luis Resto   Composer,Producer,Additional Production
Marvin Gaye   Composer
Ray Seay   Mixing
Lil C   Producer