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B.Slade

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Tonéx (pronounced "toe-nay") (born May 16, 1975 in San Diego, California) 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.

B.Slade

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, debuting at #1 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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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." [6]

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, and Tonex is now entered into a brand new agreement through his own label Nureau Ink with Zomba Label Group 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 on September 11th of this year. The first single "Joy" hit radio on Tonex's birthday, May 16th, 2007. According to a bulletin posted by Tonéx on MySpace, his new album Stereotype: Steel & Velvet will release September 11, 2007.

But then as of June 2007, it was announced that Tonex had once again split with Zomba Label Group. He is facing much scrutiny and is currently on a self-journey. His new album Stereotype: Steel & Velvet has been stalled due to this new breakup. Tonex has also posted videos documenting his breakup and talking about his self journey. In these videos he uses curse words, which is a sin in the christian community, and he is being criticised about this.

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

Discography

Albums

Singles

  • "Personal Jesus" (Rescue/MSS, 1997)
  • "Personal Jesus (Remixes)" (MSS, 1999) CD MAXI SINGLE
  • "One Sunday Morning"/"For The Life Of Me" (MSS, 1999)
  • "Mad" (MSS, 1999) CASSETTE SINGLE
  • "Personal Jesus" (Jive/Verity/Tommy Boy/Rescue/MSS, 2000)
  • "Bout A Thang" (Jive/Verity, 2002)
  • "That's When" (Verity, 2002)
  • "God Has Not 4Got" (Verity, 2002)
  • "Doesn't Really Matter" (Verity, 2004)
  • "Make Me Over" (Verity, 2004)
  • "Since Jesus Came" (Verity, 2004)
  • "Ain't (Remyx EP)" (Nureau Ink, 2005)
  • "Fail U" (Nureau Ink, 2006)
  • "Joy" (Nureau Ink/Verity, 2007)

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.

Awards

GMA Award (formerly known as Dove Awards)
  • 2003: Urban Album of the Year for Souljahz's The Fault Is History (Warner Bros.)[7][8]
Stellar Awards
  • 2003: Rap/Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year for O2[9]
  • 2005: Artist of the Year for Out The Box[10]
  • 2005: Song of the Year for "Make Me Over"[10]
  • 2005: Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year for Out The Box[10]
  • 2005: Contemporary CD of the Year for Out The Box[10]
  • 2005: Urban/Inspirational Performance of the Year for Out The Box[10]
  • 2005: Rap/Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year for "Thank Q" from Out The Box[10]

References

  1. ^ "An Interview With Tonéx: Foundational Nureau — Part One". GospelFlava.com.
  2. ^ "Verity Dominates Billboard Gospel Chart". GospelCity.com.
  3. ^ "Stellar Gospel Awards celebrates 20th anniversary; Tonex sweeps with six awards". Jet. March 7, 2005.
  4. ^ "Tonéx lawsuit press release". GospelCity.com.
  5. ^ "Tonéx retires from gospel music industry". GospelCity.com.
  6. ^ Franklin, Kirk (January 25, 2006). "Tonéx". KirkFranklin.us.
  7. ^ Dove Awards of 2003
  8. ^ "Dove Awards - Entertainment". Jet. April 28, 2003.
  9. ^ "18th Annual Stellar Award Winners (2003)". GospelFlava.com.
  10. ^ a b c d e f "20th Annual Stellar Award Winners (2005)". GospelFlava.com.
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