"Although his upbringing may not have seemed to put him with the music elite, Uncle Kracker was friends with the future stars of the industry when he was still a child. Uncle Kracker, whose real name is Matthew Shafer, was born in Mount Clemens, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. He was the son of a gas station owner who introduced young Kracker to Motown and country. When he was just in the sixth grade in 1987, Kracker was in a DJ contest that put him up against Robert Ritchie. The two formed a friendship after the competition, not knowing that both would later become stars as Ritchie later took on the name Kid Rock.It was also Ritchie that gave Kracker his moniker when he was 13. The older Ritchie also helped Kracker further both his rapping and DJ skills. They both were talented songwriters and soon started writing together. Kid Rock was the first of the two to find success, but he took Kracker on tour with him as a DJ. He was featured on Rock's 1998 album Devil Without a Cause, which led to his own record deal. He released his debut album, Double Wide, in 2000 and hit it big with the single ""Follow Me.""Kracker soon started working on a follow up album and released No Stranger to Shame in 2002. The album had more hits for Kracker and reached number 43 on the Billboard 200 chart. Two years later, he reached number 39 on the Billboard 200 with 72 and Sunny. That same year, he was featured on a song with Kenny Chesney called ""When the Sun Goes Down."" The song led to Kracker opening part of Chesney's 2004 tour and the song was a chart-topping hits on the country charts as well as a crossover success. Kracker started working on another album, which is set to be released in late 2008."