42 Facts About Clinton Sparks

Clinton Charls Sparks was born on September 18,1979 and is an American DJ and record producer from Boston, Massachusetts.

Clinton Sparks initially started his career as a rapper, dancer, producer, and DJ who gained notoriety by making bootleg remixes and mixtapes and parlayed that into hosting radio shows on Boston's Hot 97.7, Baltimore's 92Q, Hartford's Hot 93.7, and Sirius XM's Shade 45.

Clinton Sparks was the long-time host of a worldwide syndicated radio show called SmashTime Radio.

Clinton Sparks is the current host and owner of the national hip hop radio station Get Familiar Radio on Dash Radio, a digital radio platform for which he served as vice president from 2016 to 2019.

Clinton Sparks has written and produced songs for a number of notable acts, including Akon, Ludacris, 2 Chainz, Ty Dolla Sign, Lil Uzi Vert, Big Sean, and numerous others.

In July 2020, Clinton Sparks co-founded and became the chief business development officer of the newly formed XSET, an esports and lifestyle gaming organization.

Clinton Sparks was born and raised largely in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.

Clinton Sparks's parents got divorced when he was around 4 years old, and he lived with his mother for most of his childhood.

Clinton Sparks began using his mother's stereo as a turntable at age 10 and began manipulating his favorite parts of recordings to create new songs.

Clinton Sparks was a rapper and a dancer who, with his entourage, would win local talent shows.

An injury sustained while working for UPS required Clinton Sparks to undergo spinal surgery, severely limiting his ability to perform manual labor.

Clinton Sparks began focusing more earnestly on music in the aftermath.

From his basement studio at his mother's house, Clinton Sparks was able to convince major record labels that he ran a successful online radio show.

Clinton Sparks ran the interviews on the radio station where he worked, Boston's Hot 97.7.

Clinton Sparks was able to accumulate freestyle raps and performances from these artists that he would put into mixtapes.

Clinton Sparks hosted a syndicated hip hop show, SmashTime Radio, through SupeRadio that aired in 40 cities.

Clinton Sparks often released his own mixtapes and bootlegs on the site, including a series dubbed SmashTime Blends and several Get Familiar volumes.

In 2005, Clinton Sparks produced the Re-Up Gang's We Got It 4 Cheap mixtapes.

That year, Clinton Sparks began hosting a show on Eminem's Sirius satellite radio channel, Shade 45, and added another weekly show in North Carolina.

In March 2006, Clinton Sparks signed a worldwide syndication deal with SupeRadio that took his SmashTime Radio show to Canada, Australia, and Europe.

In 2007, Clinton Sparks produced, co-wrote, and provided vocals for the Akon song, "Sorry, Blame It on Me," which would eventually be certified platinum.

Clinton Sparks would enter into a promotional partnership with Boston-based online apparel retailer, Karmaloop, a company for which he served as director of marketing from 2010 to 2014.

Clinton Sparks continued writing and producing songs in 2009, including Pitbull's "Shut It Down," for which he won a BMI Songwriting Award.

Clinton Sparks worked with T-Pain and Leighton Meester and moved his weekly Las Vegas DJ sets to the newly-opened Vanity nightclub in the Hard Rock Hotel.

In 2010, Clinton Sparks released his first single as lead vocalist entitled "Favorite DJ" featuring DJ Class and Jermaine Dupri.

Clinton Sparks signed a record deal with Interscope Records and changed the name of his syndicated radio show to My Awesome Radio Show.

At the grand opening of his "Awesome Party," Clinton Sparks made his entrance by being lowered from a helicopter through the retractable roof of the hotel onto his DJ set.

Clinton Sparks released the song "Watch You" featuring Pitbull on the Strictly Rhythm record label.

Clinton Sparks received his first Grammy nomination for his production work on Lady Gaga's "Bloody Mary" which appeared on the album, Born This Way.

Clinton Sparks followed that up with releases of "Shut Up and Go" and "Geronimo" featuring Sage the Gemini, T-Pain, and Ty Dolla Sign before releasing his debut major label EP, ICONoclast, on September 9,2014.

Clinton Sparks went on a mini-tour in support of the album.

In March 2015, Clinton Sparks was named president of PingTank, a tech startup with an app that created animations to layer over photos and videos.

Clinton Sparks formed the music publishing company, Get Familiar Music.

Clinton Sparks is credited with discovering and signing French DJ and producer, DJ Snake, who has won several ASCAP Pop Awards with songs published by Get Familiar.

In 2017, Clinton Sparks began his own branded party and residency at Club Shrine inside the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut.

In October 2017, Clinton Sparks released a new single, "Hit My Line," featuring Joey Bandz.

In 2018, Clinton Sparks began serving as the director of business development for the esports team, FaZe Clan.

Clinton Sparks released his first book, How to Win Big in the Music Business, which features a foreword by Daymond John.

In January 2021, Clinton Sparks joined Esports Technologies as a strategic advisor.

Clinton Sparks lent his voice to the 2006 action-adventure video game Scarface: The World Is Yours, which is based on the 1983 film Scarface.

Clinton Sparks's involment added to the game's immersive experience by contributing to its rich audio landscape.

Clinton Sparks provided voice work for Saints Row: The Third, the 2011 open-world action game developed by Volition.