Rehab

by David Jeffries
The Southern hip-hop duo called Rehab were literally a product of their namesake. Original members Danny Boone and Brooks Buford, both recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, met at a local rehab facility and connected over their love of music. Mashing rap with rock, the duo released their debut album, Southern Discomfort, in 2000 on the Sony label. Cee-Lo, Goodie Mob, and Cody ChesnuTT were some of the guests on the album, which would spawn the Top 15 modern rock hit "It Don't Matter." Two years were spent on the road supporting the album, including a stint on the Vans Warped Tour, and then the duo splintered. Boone retained the name and recruited four veteran musicians for a new Rehab. Now a quintet with Boone as the lone singer/rapper -- and also using his birth name, Danny Alexander -- Rehab signed with Arshid Entertainment and released the ambitious Graffiti the World in 2005. Over the next few years, a cut from their debut album, "Sittin' at a Bar," would turn into a jukebox favorite. The Epic label got wise, re-released their debut album and renamed it Sittin' at a Bar, all without the band's permission. To fight this unauthorized reissue the band re-recorded its now famous drinking song and renamed it "Bartender Song." This version would end up on a 2008 version of Graffiti the World released by the major label Universal.