Music

B.o.B. sexes things up on new album

You’ve seen him rock the Grammys with Bruno Mars and Janelle Monae, and you’ve seen him pop up on “Saturday Night Live” with Jessie J — but if you’re really lucky, you just might see B.o.B play a bar mitzvah.

B.o.B Underground Luxury

“I still play bar mitzvahs — I did one just the other day,” he tells The Post. Most artists with four Top 10 singles and two Top 10 albums to their name would probably consider themselves above such things. But ahead of the release of the Georgia native’s third album, “Underground Luxury,” B.o.B wants it to be known that if you ask nicely (and offer him enough Jacksons), you might get a selection of his rhymes to go with your Torah reading.

“I have fun with it,” he says. “A lot of times, it’ll be a surprise for the kids, so it’s fun to see them react. Pass the memo — I’m available!”

The teenybopper crowd is something that B.o.B (real name: Bobby Ray Simmons Jr.) has had in his camp since the early days. After making a name for himself via mixtapes — inspired by fellow Southerners Outkast and Goodie Mob — while he was still a teenager, B.o.B was signed to T.I.’s Grand Hustle label. He hit the ground running with his first single, “Nothin’ On You” (featuring Bruno Mars), which hit No. 1 on the Hot 100.

After that came “Airplanes,” a duet recorded with Hayley Williams of pop-punk outfit Paramore. Hitting No. 2 on the charts, it was a song that landed B.o.B an audience well beyond the hip-hop crowd. And last year’s duet with Taylor Swift, “Both of Us,” only extended his reach.

“After [‘Airplanes’], my fan base went from the hipster kids, to the cool crowd, to the teenyboppers,” says the 24-year-old, who still calls Atlanta home. “It was a staple moment of my career. When you think about Bill Cosby, the first thing you think about is probably Jell-O pudding, even though he’s done so much more stuff [than those commercials]. ‘Airplanes’ is like that for me.”

But B.o.B’s G-rated act for the underage crowd is taking a back seat with his new album. “Underground Luxury” is a collection of hedonistic party jams that captures the musician unabashedly celebrating the fact that he’s young, loaded and horny. The track “Throwback” (featuring Chris Brown) in particular will raise a few eyebrows with its racy anatomical content.

B.o.B performs at MLB Fan Cave October, 2013 in NYCWireImage

“I’m not trying to be on my best behavior this time,” says B.o.B unapologetically. “With my first album, you could play it for the whole family. With this album, you might have to get the clean version. It’s real and unedited!”

It’s also impressively eclectic. As shown by his decision to reach out to Williams to record “Airplanes,” B.o.B’s tastes have always run a spectrum that includes hip-hop, rock, dance and much more — and at various points through “Underground Luxury,” all of those influences shine through.

“I don’t think there’s anybody in the world of hip-hop that does what I do,” he states proudly. “What rapper have you seen that can play guitar or play piano and rap at the same time when they play live? I stand out. I’m the first rapper to ever do that! I’m doing more than just hip-hop.”
And if you don’t believe him, just ask your rabbi.