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Who is Tonex?
Whether you belive him, like him, listen to him, or even know him, he is doing it different and out of the box. Don't let the look fool you, the brother is breaking down walls and knocking down barriers, and moving into new dimensions. Here is just a taste of who he is and what he is doing. Tonex exposed, uncovered, and proclaiming the Naked Truth!
Anthony Charles Williams II (born May 16, 1975(1975-05-16) in San Diego, California), better known by his stage name TONEX (pronounced "toe-nay"), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, dancer, producer, and preacher. He goes by various names and aliases, but his primary stage name of choice has been "Tonex" over the years. In 2008, he underwent a name change by adopting a new spelling for his previous name, "TON3X". His albums are currently being released under this new spelling of his name.
Tonex is a prolific artist, having released several hundred songs on 24 albums over a span of just 14 years, while producing several others for both gospel and secular artists alike. He has won six Stellar Awards, a GMA Award, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Soul Gospel Album for his 2004 gold album, Out The Box.
Known more for his gospel recordings, his musical efforts have been known to blend a smorgasbord of styles, including pop, r&b, jazz, soul, funk, hip hop, rock, latin, electro, punk and trance, just to name a few. His primary influences include Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Prince, Michael Jackson, Walter Hawkins, Shirley Caesar, and Janet Jackson. His distinct sound and eclectic style of music led him to give his music its own genre per se, calling it "Nureau".
Born in 1975, Tonex grew up in the San Diego, California area. His father, Dr. Anthony Williams, was Senior Pastor and District Elder in the Truth Apostolic Community Church in suburban Spring Valley, and his mother was also a minister. Tonex's real name is Anthony Charles Williams II and he was the youngest of the Williams' six boys. Gospel music was the preferred choice at home, but other sounds made their way into Tonex's environment. His father played saxophone for James Brown and Jackie Wilson, his mother sang in various girl groups, and his older brothers sneaked funk and R&B recordings into the house. By age 10, Tonex had recorded an album of his own at home. Deciding early on a musical career, he took the name "Tonex" by the time he was 13, sometimes spelling it "Tonéx".
Early career Rescue was still a small label, and Pronounced Toe-Nay was issued in a limited production run and distributed mostly from the back of Tonex's car. Young gospel fans, however, quickly caught on to the innovative variety of music on Pronounced Toe-Nay. The album's producer, T. Boy, was an alter ego of Tonex himself. The album was divided by style into seven sections: hip-hop/rap, retro/funk, the future, jazz, mellow grooves, soul/gospel, and bonus tracks. In the recordings of Kirk Franklin and others, hip-hop had previously made inroads into gospel music, but this kind of wild eclectic mix was completely new. At the time, the digital reproduction of music was in its infancy, and rare copies of the album became prized possessions. Pronounced Toe-Nay garnered the attention of the producers at the 14th Annual Stellar Awards and placed him on the billing, and that performance by Tonex made such a bold statement and had such an impact, it has been compared to the impact Michael Jackson made on the Motown 25th Anniversary Special back in 1983 when he introduced the moonwalk to the world.
By this time, national labels had come calling. Tonex was signed to an unusual three-way deal that affiliated him with the successful and growing gospel label Verity, the pop imprint Zomba, and the durable hip-hop label Tommy Boy. Tonex made his national debut with a re-release of his most successful independent album Pronounced Toe-Nay in 2000. [1] His first high-profile television appearance was performing a medley of "Trinity" & "One Good Reason" on the Stellar Awards, which was a coup as Tonéx was a relative unknown at the time.[2][3] He has dubbed his particular genre-spanning musical style "nureau."[4]
Upon its release, Pronounced Toe-Nay bore 5 different record label logos: Rescue Records, the independent label that originally released the album; MSS Records, Tonéx's then-active vanity imprint label; Tommy Boy Gospel, the label to which Tonéx was signed as an artist; Verity Records, the label to which his independent label Rescue Records sold his album's masters; and Jive Records, the mainstream umbrella over Verity Records.[5] All of the material was produced, arranged, composed and performed by Tonex, with guest appearances from his mother E.B. Williams, and the rapper Big J.
Taking note of his immense talent, some executives wanted to develop Tonex's talents in a secular direction, but he turned them down and kept to religious themes. "There are a lot of people who do similar things to what I do in R&B but I wanted to use gospel lyrics," he explained in an interview quoted on the Sphinx Management Web site. "I address issues that many other Christian artists don't address. For instance, in a sexual context, I don't sing about what I'm going to do to a woman. I sing about what I've already experienced and the pain that it caused me. So, on a song like 'Taxi,' I'm talking about the downside of premarital sex, but it's still a pop song."
While he worked on his sophomore national release, Tonex contributed 3 original tracks to The Hostile Takeover, a Tommy Boy collection of songs by other new gospel artists.
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4 comments:
Hey brother man things are crazy right now! I cant say i fully understand the situation you're in, but i can tell you that i cant judge you because thats gods job. My purpose for writing is to tell you that no matter what people may say about who you are, or talk and gossip God really has used you to break down the walls of the "gospel" genre. People are afraid of talking real life, playing it safe! But man i gotta say dont walk away from your calling the gifts God has blessed you with has left those with no hope or future blessed! Dont conform to the world but use your gifts to expand the kingdom. Not for anyone but god! peace and much love brother!
Dearest Psalmist,
My name is Betty Wambui from Nairobi, Kenya. I work with the Teens Ministry in my church. I am from finishing a sermon on Grace based on your song, Grace from the “Out the Box” movie. I am writing to you to remind you about God’s grace. You (and the peculiar people) sang it at your concert (Sept 2003) and told the church that it was available to them. I just want to remind you that grace is available to you too. God touched many lives through you that day; now it’s time for you to allow Him to minister His divine grace to you.
See, I am like you, always there for people, desperate to reach out to them when they are hurting, fearful and in pain. We tell them to come just as they are and they will be healed but when we need the healing, when we are hurting and afraid, we deal with it (sometimes allowing God) without involving people thinking that it is our problem, our battle, and that is selfish.
I had been doing this for a long time thinking that I wasn’t hurting anyone --until my friends told me that I make them feel useless because I never need them when I am going through tests and trials , and sometimes, they are desperate to hear that I need them.
Do you remember when you said, “For God I live, for God I die?” It is time for us to change Ton`ex; I need to involve my friends in my Christian walk, and you need to forgive the church for not being there for you when you needed them most especially after devoting your whole life and love to them. If we do not, we will be loving people out of duty, not choice.
I used to think that people can’t help me, only God can, but I discovered that most times, God uses people to help me when I need Him. You see, I admit that one of the reasons why I don’t allow people’s help is because I am scared, scared that if I open up my heart, it will be broken and I don’t think I have it in me to handle disappointments and heart breaks. I have been safe with this belief for 21 years but I must change now for my sake and the teens ‘am now responsible for. If I do not allow them to see and know that I struggle, go through pain and fears, I will just be like another authority they are used to and they will rebel. I will therefore have made their lives worse that they were before.
Tone`x, its time for you to go back to the music ministry. You have no idea what “Out the Box “ DVD has done for me and my friends. We have gone through disappointments, betrayal (most from the church), pain, uncertainty… with you through the DVD.
You are not alone psalmist. Sure, people, especially the church have hurt you. They haven’t stood with you when you needed them most but you cannot allow this to stand in the way of those few whom God has called to stand in the gap with and for you. You must trust again. You must love again, for the sake of generations, for the sake of the anointing, that you may come back and reach nations for God.
God is not dead Your destiny is not dead. It is time to come back. The world needs you. We need you. My friends and I believe in you. You will make it, and this time, you shall stand until Christ tells you, Well done.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonex the past is the past now it is time for you to come out with something new. All that is old and forgotten but the annointing on your life still remains.
Tonex leave the past behind you God has forgotten it all and so have your fans. The youth needs you and so many adult. The anointing of God runs through your veins. So let your light shine for you are the salt of the earth.
God bless you
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