Bobby Ray Simmons - aka B.o.B. - has played Wembley Stadium in London, Yankee Stadium in New York and every size venue in between.
But he's never played a haunted house.
When we told him where he would be performing in Tucson - the Slaughter House in the former Farmer John's butcher plant- he was taken aback.
"At a haunted house?" the 21-year-old Atlanta rapper questioned, and then there was a brief moment of silence before he enthusiastically chimed in: "Oh man, that's going to be interesting! Wow!"
We caught up with Simmons on his cell phone somewhere en route to Kansas City, Mo., to chat about "Shootin' for the Stars," his debut solo tour that runs through October.
What does the "o" stand for in B.o.B.?
"B.o.B. is Bob. It's just a way of taking my name and making it cool."
So it's not an acronym for anything?
"It is if you want it to be. It's open for interpretation. I mean, I'm Bob."
This has been quite a year for you. Your debut album, "B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray," dropped in April and already has spun off two No. 1 hits.
"I know. It still continues to be crazy."
What's been the highlight so far?
"Probably opening for Em and Jay (Eminem and Jay-Z) at Yankee Stadium and then Detroit."
Was that your biggest audience?
"That wasn't the biggest crowd, but it was the biggest venue thus far. ... I've been to Australia, New Zealand and Japan. More recently, the biggest thing I've done is Wembley Stadium."
Anyone who knows your story - that you started rapping as a child and signed your first major-label record deal when you were 17 - knows that you're not an overnight success. But with this flood of successes you've had in the last six months, it sure feels like overnight.
"It's almost as if someone has an on-and-off switch, and they just switched it on, you know what I mean?"
Your third, "Don't Let Me Fall," is gaining traction.
"That's the most recent song I recorded, and I feel like it reflects and shows the whole journey. It kind of sums it up."
You break the mold with your style that pays equal attention to free-styling and singing.
"Some songs I may just want to rap. Some songs I may want to sing. It just depends on what the vibe is like. It's really just letting it flow freely. You may rap then sing then rap and sing."
Your record has an explicit lyrics warning, but so far we haven't heard you talk about guns or killing or degrading women.
"I feel like rap got branded with that archetype just from hearing the word rap. When you hear the word rap, you automatically think gangsta rap. But rap is rap, and gangsta rap is gangsta rap. For me, just the element of rapping is in my DNA. It's going to come out naturally, here and there.
"I started doing that first before I started singing. But I feel like they are two different languages. There are certain things you can't say when you sing, and there are certain things you can't say when you rap because it's not the right language to say it."
But you bring those two languages together.
"Exactly. I'm bilingual."
If YOu go
âĸ What: KRQ's Halloween Bash with B.o.B. and Playboy Tre.
âĸ When: 8 p.m. Saturday.
âĸ Where: The Slaughter House, 1102 W. Grant Road, in the old Farmer John's Building.
• Tickets: $35 or $55; both include admission to the Slaughter House haunted house. Available at www.slaughterhouse tucson.com.
