Tonéx

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Tonéx

Background information
Birth name	Anthony Charles Williams II
Also known as	T'Boy, T. Bizzy, O'ryn, Pastor N8ion, ACW2
Born	May 16, 1975
Origin	San Diego, California
Genre(s)	gospel, "nureau", R&B, jazz
Occupation(s)	singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, choreographer, dancer
Instrument(s)	vocals, piano, organ, drums
Years active	1992-present
Label(s)	Rajah, MSS, Rescue/Diamante, Tommy Boy Gospel, Jive/Verity, Nureau Ink
Website	http://www.yotonex.com/

Tonéx (pronounced toe-nay) is an American contemporary gospel singer and preacher. He is the pastor of Truth Apostolic Church in San Diego, California. His often chameleonic image and typically genre-bending musical style (which he himself has dubbed Nureau)^[1] have made him alternately revered and reviled among conservative fans of the gospel music. Nonetheless, he has carved out a niche for himself as a formidable vocalist, and prolific songwriter and record producer with his recordings.

1 Career biography
2 Discography
3 Trivia
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Career biography

After honing his producing skills with a series of experimental independent recordings, Tonéx made his national debut with a re-release of his most successful independent album Pronounced Toe-Nay. 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.

A single and music video from Toe-Nay were seviced to media outlets for "Personal Jesus". Upon its release, the album 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.

Two years later, he delivered the musically progressive and pop-leaning album O2 which got off to a great start with the popularity of the upbeat music video for the single "Bout A Thang" featuring energetic hip-hop dance and an edgy urban image not usually associated with gospel artists. The album received it's greatest boost from the momentum gathered by the single "God Has Not 4got" on gospel radio. The song was nominated for multiple Stellar Awards the following year. Reminiscent of the style of R. Kelly, an additional single "That's When" also garnered much radio airplay.

His 2004 double CD Out The Box earned him the most widespread acclaim so far, charting at #5 on the Billboard Magazine Top Gospel Album Chart in September of 2004. He also netted a Grammy nomination for Best Soul Gospel Album the following year, and had a bonafide radio hit with the ballad "Make Me Over".^[2] The same year, Tonéx won a total of six Stellar Awards including "Artist of the Year" for Out The Box.

As quickly as his fame grew, his career was dealt several crushing blows in 2005. He was forced to go from being assistant pastor to senior pastor of Truth Apostolic Church when his father passed away suddenly. He also began the process of divorce with his wife of 5 years, Yvette Williams (née Graham). Headlines rippled quickly through the gospel music industry, however, when news hit that Verity Records was suing Tonéx for one million dollars.^[3] The headlines kept coming when, amidst a lengthy explanation sent to several media outlets, Tonéx announced that he would retire from the gospel music industry, frustrated by politics and ill-treatment.^[4] Following the announcement, Kirk Franklin posted a personal blog on his own website sympathizing with the artist feeling "the weight of an industry that is only built to make money, not heal broken souls." ^[5]

Nonetheless, Tonéx has been releasing new and old albums and singles through iTunes under the label heading of Nureau Ink. Among these releases are, a 2-track single from his hip-hop alter ego T. Bizzy, an exclusive remix album Pronounced Remyx, and a sprawling two-disc confessional opus called Oak Park 92105 previously only available through underground websites. A special version of Oak Park 92105 was given a limited release to the Christian market and re-titled Oak Park 921'o6 featuring a new song "Fail U" as lead single. Most recently, a primarily secular jazz collection entitled The London Letters was released through Nureau Ink on iTunes.

As of March 2007, a reconciliation was announced,^[6] and Tonex is now resigned to Verity Records under the helm of new president Jazzy Jordan who has previously guided the careers of R. Kelly and Salt-N-Pepa. The report further states that new music will be released in May of this year.

Tonéx regularly documents his activities on the blog of his official MySpace page and continues to serve as pastor of Truth Apostolic Church.

[edit] Discography

Independent Releases

Silent X: The Self Confrontation (Rajah, 1994)
Damage (1995, cassette only, out of print)
Pronounced Toe-Nay (Rescue/MSS, 1997)
Personal Jesus LP (1997, CD Maxi-Single w/ Remixes)

Major Label Releases

Pronounced Toe-Nay (MSS/Tommy Boy/Verity/Jive, 2000)
O2 (Verity/Nureau Ink, 2002)
Out The Box (Verity/Nureau Ink, 2004)
Oak Park 921'o6 (Nureau Ink, 2006)

Digital Only Releases

Circu$$ (2000, free mp3 release)
proTransalutionary (2003)
Pronounced Remyx (2003, PTN remix collection released on iTunes)
The Orphans (2003, free mp3 release)
Oak Park 92105 (2006, re-released on iTunes)
The London Letters (2006, released on iTunes)

Underground/Out-of-Print Releases

Oak Park 92105 (2003)
Figure O' Speech (2003, under the pseudonym "The O'ryn Project")

[edit] Trivia

Along with singer Shanice, Tonéx co-wrote and performed the theme song to the UPN television sitcom One On One.
During their marriage, Tonéx's former wife Yvette Graham adopted "Ms. Tonex" as an alias and sometime stage name.