Tone Loc
This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (November 2017) |
Tone Loc | |
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![]() Performing in October 2023 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Anthony Terrell Smith |
Also known as | Tone Lōc |
Born | Los Angeles, California, U.S. | March 3, 1966
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) |
|
Instrument | Vocals |
Years active | 1987–present |
Labels |
Anthony Terrell Smith (born March 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Tone Lōc (/toʊn loʊk/), is an American rapper.[1] He is known for his raspy voice, his hit songs "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina", for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award, and for being featured in "We're All in the Same Gang", a collaborative single by the West Coast Rap All-Stars.
Early life
[edit]Anthony Terrell Smith was born March 3, 1966, in Los Angeles, California, the son of Margaret, who managed a retirement home, and James Smith who passed away in 1972.[2] As a result, Smith and his three older brothers were raised by his mother.[3] He was educated at the Hollywood Professional School.[3] As a teenager, he performed with the rap group Triple A.[3]
Career
[edit]1989–1991: mainstream success
[edit]Tone Loc's debut album, Lōc-ed After Dark, was released in January 1989. The video for the first single, "Wild Thing," became a staple on MTV in the US. The song rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the top twenty in Australia. The second single, "Funky Cold Medina," also became a hit. It reached the top 5 in the US, peaking at No. 3; the top ten in Australia; and the top twenty in the UK.[4]
Lōc-ed After Dark reached No. 1 in the US. Since its release, it has been certified 2× platinum there.
Tone Loc's second album Cool Hand Lōc was released in November 1991. The album's first single was "All Through the Night", which found moderate success, reaching No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #16 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. It received frequent airplay on MTV and BET. He also contributed "If I'm Gonna Eat Somebody" for 20th Century Fox's FernGully.
1994–2004: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective franchise, and other endeavors
[edit]Tone Loc played the part of police Sergeant Emilio in the film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994). Tone Loc's song "Ace Is in the House", which samples the Beastie Boys song "No Sleep till Brooklyn", is featured in the films Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) and Ace Ventura Jr.: Pet Detective (2009).
He provided vocals for Fefe Dobson for the track "Rock It Till You Drop It" on her self-titled debut album.
Tone Loc also voiced Fūd Wrapper, the host of the animatronic show Food Rocks. This was played at Epcot from 1994 to 2004. In this latter role, he sang the song "Always Read the Wrapper", a parody of his second hit single "Funky Cold Medina".
He appeared as Albert in episode 8 of season 2 of Touched by an Angel, which aired November 11, 1995.
1992–2016: television, film and voice acting
[edit]Tone Loc has performed in several feature films, including Poetic Justice, Blank Check, Heat and Posse.[5] As a voice actor, Tone Loc has voiced characters in several animated television series such as King of the Hill and C Bear and Jamal,[5] and was featured in the animated film Bebe's Kids, playing the wise-cracking baby Pee Wee.[6] He voiced the character Lou the Goanna in the 1992 film FernGully: The Last Rainforest.[7] He has also provided his signature voice for episodes of Chowder and Uncle Grandpa, both airing on Cartoon Network. In 2022, Tone Loc was featured as the singing voice of Penny Proud in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder on Disney+.[8]
2016–present: I Love the 90s Tour
[edit]He was among the list of performers on the I Love the 90s Tour, which has performed worldwide since April 2016,[9] as well as having featured appearances on the I Love the 90s: The Party Continues Tour from July to September 2017.[10]
Personal life
[edit]Legal issues
[edit]In December 2010, Tone Loc was arrested for an alleged DUI. He was released on bail claiming a medical condition had caused a seizure.[5]
On June 18, 2011, Tone Loc was arrested for felony domestic violence and felony possession of a Colt AR-15 Sporter rifle,[11] heavily restricted by California law,[12] but not involved in the domestic incident[11] after an altercation with the mother of one of his children.[13] He was released less than three hours later after posting $50,000 bail.[14][15] On October 3, 2011, he entered a plea of no contest to both charges, and was sentenced to one day in county jail, three years of probation, 52 weeks of anger management counseling and 30 days of community service.[11]
On March 23, 2019, Tone Loc was detained by the Midland Police Department in Midland, Texas.[16] It was later revealed that the reason for the detention was a heated argument caused when Loc confronted someone who was wearing a Confederate battle flag baseball cap. After the two arguing parties agreed to separate, Loc was released and no charges were filed.[17]
Health issues
[edit]Tone Lōc has collapsed onstage multiple times since 1995; some if not all of these collapses have been due to seizures, according to at least one report.[18] On May 29, 2009, he was rushed to a hospital[19] after collapsing during a concert in Pensacola, Florida.[18] The rapper cut his elbow when he fell and was released the same day.[19] On October 15, 2011, he was hospitalized for exhaustion after collapsing onstage during a concert in Atlanta, Georgia. He was taken to a local hospital where he was intravenously rehydrated.[20] Another similar incident occurred in 2012.[21] On March 16, 2013, he collapsed onstage, at a performance at the Bridge Bash in Des Moines, Iowa,[21] but he refused hospital care.[18] He collapsed onstage on December 6, 2013, during a performance in San Francisco, California, and collapsed again on November 26, 2016, during a performance in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but he later returned to the stage.[22] He wears his signature sunglasses at every performance to help reduce the likelihood of a seizure.
Discography
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [23] | US R&B [24] | AUS [25][26] | CAN [27] | AUT [28] | NZ [29] | SWE [30] | SWI [31] | UK [32] | ||||||
Lōc-ed After Dark |
| 1 | 3 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 31 | 30 | 22 | ||||
Cool Hand Lōc |
| — | 46 | 129 | — | 39 | — | — | — | — | ||||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Singles
[edit]Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | Album | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [34] | US Rap [35] | US R&B [36] | US Dan [37] | AUS [38][39][26] | AUT [40] | CAN [41] | NZ [42] | SWI [43] | UK [32] | |||||
"On Fire"[44][45] | 1987 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single[A] | ||
"Wild Thing" | 1988 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 15 | — | 7 | 1 | 23 | 21 | Lōc-ed After Dark | ||
"Funky Cold Medina" | 1989 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 13 | |||
"I Got It Goin' On" | — | 18 | 59 | — | 52 | — | 9 | 27 | — | 55 | ||||
"All Through the Night" (featuring El DeBarge) | 1991 | 80 | — | 16 | — | 106 | — | — | — | — | — | Cool Hand Lōc | ||
"Cool Hand Loc"[49] | 1992 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Posse Love"[50] | 1993 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Posse soundtrack | ||
"Ace Is in the House"[51] (featuring Jim Carrey) | 1994 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Ace Ventura soundtrack | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Notes
- ^ A remix of this song was later included on Lōc-ed After Dark.
Featured singles
[edit]Title | Year | Artist | Peak chart positions | Album | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
US | US R&B | ||||
"We're All in the Same Gang" | 1990 | West Coast Rap All-Stars | 35 | 10 | Non-album single |
Awards and nominations
[edit]Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | MTV Video Music Awards | Best Rap Video | "Wild Thing" | Nominated |
1990 | Grammy Awards | Best New Artist | Himself | Nominated |
Best Rap Solo Performance | "Funky Cold Medina" | Nominated | ||
American Music Awards | Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist | Himself | Nominated | |
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album | Lōc-ed After Dark | Nominated | ||
Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop New Artist | Himself | Nominated | ||
Favorite Dance New Artist | Won | |||
1991 | Grammy Awards | Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group | "We're All in the Same Gang" | Nominated |
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | The Adventures of Ford Fairlane | Slam | |
The Return of Superfly | Unknown | Uncredited | |
1992 | FernGully: The Last Rainforest | Goanna[52] | Voice |
Bebe's Kids | Pee-Wee[52] | Voice | |
1993 | Posse | Angel | |
Poetic Justice | James Paul | ||
Surf Ninjas | Lieutenant Spence | ||
A Cool Like That Christmas | Marvin | Television film | |
1994 | Car 54, Where Are You? | Handsome Cab Driver | |
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective | Emilio | ||
Blank Check | Juice | ||
1995 | Heat | Richard Torena | |
Crosstown Traffic | Keiser | Television film | |
1996 | Spy Hard | Gangster #1 | |
1997 | Fakin' da Funk | "Frog" | |
1998 | Freedom Strike | Tyler Haynes | |
1999 | Jack and the Beanstalk | The Giant | Voice |
2000 | Whispers: An Elephant's Tale | Macho Bull[52] | |
Titan A.E. | Tek[52] | Voice | |
Space Cowboys | The Photographer | Uncredited | |
2001 | Deadly Rhapsody | Jelly's Cousin | |
They Crawl | Clarence | ||
2002 | Storm Watch | Ray | |
2006 | Totally Awesome | Himself | Television film |
Dreamweaver | Sandman | Television film | |
2011 | White T | Jerry | Voice |
2014 | Not Cool | Pedestrian #2 | Uncredited |
Television
[edit]Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1990 | The Earth Day Special | Himself | |
1992–1994 | Roc | Ronnie Paxton | 7 episodes |
1994 | Aladdin | Magma | Voice, episode: "Smolder and Wiser" |
1995 | Touched by an Angel | Albert Turner | Episode: "Operation Smile" |
NewsRadio | Security Guard, Lorenzo | 2 episodes | |
1996–1997 | C Bear and Jamal | C-Bear[52] | Lead role |
1996 | Living Single | Lester Tate | Episode: "School's Out Forever" |
1997 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child | The Giant / Desmond Bear | Voice, 2 episodes |
Martin | Himself | Episode: "Ain't That About a Ditch" | |
Dangerous Minds | Mr. Summers | Episode: "To'e Me Up, To'e Me Down" | |
1999 | Early Edition | Derek "D.J." Johnson | Episode: "Number One with a Bullet" |
2000–2001 | Rude Awakening | Lenny | 2 episodes |
2001 | Thieves | Special Agent Al Trundall | |
2002 | The District | J.T. Betancourt | Episode: "Twist of Hate" |
Static Shock | Hyde[52] | Voice, episode: "Static Shaq" | |
2004 | Superstar USA | Panelist | |
2005 | King of the Hill | Bouncer | Voice, episode: "Smoking and the Bandit" |
Yes, Dear | Dave | Episode: "Barbecue" | |
2008 | Chowder | Chestnut[52] | Voice, 3 episodes |
2014 | Uncle Grandpa | Moon Man | Voice, episode: "Bezt Frends" |
2022 | The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder | Penny Proud (singing voice) | Episode: "Snackland" |
See also
[edit]- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance Club Songs chart
- List of Billboard number-one dance club songs
References
[edit]- ^ "Tone Loc". IMDb. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
- ^ "Tone-Loc Biography (1966?-)". FilmReference.com.
- ^ a b c Tone Loc. Gale Research Inc. 1989. p. 234. ISBN 9780810322134.
{{cite book}}
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ignored (help) - ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 561. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ a b c Kaufman, Gil (July 15, 2011). "Tone Loc Pleads Not Guilty To Domestic Violence Charges". MTV.com. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ Tone Loc at IMDb
- ^ "Update: Ferngully: the Last Rainforest (1992) Acting Credits". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2015. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015.
- ^ Jones, Monique (March 17, 2022). "'The Proud Family: Louder And Prouder' Exclusive Look At Lizzo And Tone Loc's Episode This Week". Shadow & Act. Archived from the original on March 16, 2022. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
- ^ Spanos, Brittany (March 29, 2016). "Salt-N-Pepa, Vanilla Ice to Headline 'I Love the '90s' Tour". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ "I Love The 90s". ilovethe90stour.com. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Rapper Tone Loc pleads no contest to domestic violence charge". CNN. October 4, 2011. Archived from the original on October 10, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ "California Firearms Laws" (PDF). ag.ca.gov. Office of the Attorney General, California Dept. of Justice. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ Duke, Alan (June 19, 2011). "Police: Tone Loc arrested after fight with his child's mother". CNN. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2011.
- ^ "Tone Loc arrested in domestic violence case". MSN.com. Associated Press; TMZ.com; TODAY news services. June 19, 2011. Archived from the original on June 23, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ Martinez, Edecio (June 20, 2011). "Rapper Tone Loc arrested on domestic violence charge". CBSnews.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ Harrison, Haley (March 24, 2019). "FIRST ON CBS7: Rapper Tone Loc detained by Midland Police". www.cbs7.com. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
- ^ "Tone Loc Detained at Texas Airport for Arguing with Couple About Son's Confederate Hat". Complex Networks.
- ^ a b c Newson, Kelly (March 17, 2013). "Lil Wayne, Tone Loc and Morrissey all under the doctor's watch". Guardian Liberty Voice. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ a b Langhorne, Cyrus (May 29, 2009). "Update: Tone Loc Recovering After Concert Seizure, Released From Hospital". sohh.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013.
- ^ Grossberg, Josh (October 17, 2011). "Tone Loc collapses after playing 'Funky Cold Medina'". MSN.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2011.
- ^ a b "Tone Loc collapses onstage at Bridge Bash". Des Moines Register; USA Today. March 17, 2013. Retrieved March 17, 2013.
- ^ Dexter, Christopher; Ferguson, Danielle (November 26, 2016). "Tone Loc collapses on stage at Premier Center, later returns". Argus Leader. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
- ^ "Tone-Loc Album & Song Chart History – Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Tone-Loc Album & Song Chart History – R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Australian charts portal". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ a b "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing December 9, 1991". Bubbling Down Under. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums – May 29, 1989" (PDF).
- ^ "Austria Top 40". austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Swedish charts portal". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community" [The Official Swiss Hit Parade and Music Community]. hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ a b "The Official Charts Company – Tone Loc". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
- ^ "RIAA – Gold & Platinum – December 26, 2010: Tone-Loc certified albums". riaa.com. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Tone-Loc Album & Song Chart History – Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Tone-Loc : Allmusic : Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Tone-Loc Album & Song Chart History – R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Tone-Loc Album & Song Chart History – Dance/Club Play Songs". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Top 50 peaks: Tone Loc". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "25 Years Ago This Week: October 8, 1989". chartbeat.blogspot.com.au. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
I Got It Goin' On
- ^ "Austria Top 40". austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ Peaks in Canada:
- "Funky Cold Medina": "RPM Top 100 Singles – May 15, 1989" (PDF).
- "I Got It Goin' On": "RPM Top Dance/Urban – August 14, 1989" (PDF).
- ^ "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community" [The Official Swiss Hit Parade and Music Community]. hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Tone-Loc – On Fire / I Got It Goin' On". Discogs.
- ^ "Tone-Loc – On Fire / Cheeba Cheeba". Discogs.
- ^ "RIAA – Gold & Platinum – December 26, 2010: "Wild Thing" certified awards". riaa.com. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ a b Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- ^ "RIAA – Gold & Platinum – December 26, 2010: "Funky Cold Medina" certified awards". riaa.com. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
- ^ "Tone-Loc – Cool Hand Loc". Discogs.
- ^ "Tone-Loc – Posse Love". Discogs.
- ^ "Tone-Loc – Ace Is In The House". Discogs.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Tone Loc – 9 Character Images".