Antonio Williams (born October 25, 1986), better known by his stage name Antwon, is an American rapper based in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. In 2013, he was included on '' Complex''s "15 Unsigned Rappers Who Should Get a Deal After SXSW" list. He was also included on ''Complex''s "25 New Rappers to Watch Out For in 2014" list.

Biography

Born in

Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

, to an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

father and a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

mother, Antwon grew up in

Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...

. He was a member of the Philadelphia-based hardcore band Leather, as well as the pop punk bands Sour Patch and How to: Summer. Antwon's first mixtape, ''Fantasy Beds'', was released in 2011. In that year, he also released ''My Westside Horizon''. In 2012, Antwon released a mixtape, ''End of Earth''. ''

SF Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards, ...

'' included it on the "10 Best Bay Area Hip-Hop Records of 2012" list. In 2013, he released a mixtape, ''In Dark Denim''. It was listed as ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

''s "Rap Release of the Week". His first official studio album, ''

Heavy Hearted in Doldrums ''Heavy Hearted in Doldrums'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Antwon. It was released on May 6, 2014. It features guest appearances from Lil Ugly Mane, Sad Andy, Wiki, Heems, Lakutis, and Andre Martel. Music videos were created for "Do ...

'', was released on UNIF and Nature World in 2014. In 2016, he released an EP, ''Double Ecstasy'', on

Anticon Anticon (often styled as anticon.) is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1998 by seven musicians and manager Baillie Parker. It is now collectively owned among six musicians, co-founder Parker, and man ...

. In 2017, he released a mixtape, ''Sunnyvale Gardens''.

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

placed it at number 20 on the "20 Best Hip-Hop Mixtapes of 2017" list.

Style and influences

'' described Antwon as "an affable guy who might have one of rap's biggest, best-sounding voices, which he usually focuses on goofy jokes and surprisingly sweet bedroom raps." He has often been compared to

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

He noted

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

as his greatest influence.

Controversy

In 2016, Antwon formed Secret Circle along with

Wiki A wiki ( ) is an online hypertext publication collaboratively edited and managed by its own audience, using a web browser. A typical wiki contains multiple pages for the subjects or scope of the project, and could be either open to the pu ...

and

Lil Ugly Mane Travis Miller (born May 13, 1984) is an American rapper, singer and record producer from Richmond, Virginia. He has recorded under multiple aliases in various genres since his first known released project in 2005, including Lil Ugly Mane, Shawn ...

. Since then, the group released several tracks and played live performances across North America. In 2018, Lil Ugly Mane announced the breakup of the group, not initially indicating a specific reason for the breakup. Antwon posted a statement on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, alluding to unnamed allegations. Wiki and Lil Ugly Mane subsequently indicated that the allegations mentioned in Antwon's statement, including abusive treatment of women, were the impetus for the breakup.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2014)

Remix albums

* ''Heavy Hearted in the Function: Depressed Teenager Remixes'' (2014)

Compilation albums

* ''Collection: 2005-2007'' (2011)

Mixtapes

* ''Fantasy Beds'' (2011) * ''My Westside Horizon'' (2011) * ''End of Earth'' (2012) * ''In Dark Denim'' (2013) * ''Sunnyvale Gardens'' (2017) * ''Downtown Tony'' (2019)

EPs

* ''Cocaine and Hennessy'' (2012) * ''End of Earth Pre Tracks'' (2012) * ''Double Ecstasy'' (2016) * ''The 45 Plates EP'' (2020) * ''Life in Exile'' (2020)

Singles

* "Big Girls" (2011) * "Living Every Dream" (2012) * "Underwater Tank" (2012) * "Helicopter" (2013) * "Automatic" (2013) * "Dying in the P****" (2013) * "25th St. Sessions" (2016) * "FNF" (2019) * "Reign in England" (2019) * "DMT" (2020) * "Perry Jules" (2020)

Guest appearances

Isaiah Toothtaker Isaiah Toothtaker (born 1981) is an American rapper, designer, and tattoo artist. He is a co-founder of the indie hip hop collective Machina Muerte. Biography Toothtaker is of Mexican and Native American heritage, who grew up in Tucson, Ariz ...

- "Waterbed Wave" from ''Sea Punk Funk'' (2012) * Shadowrunners - "Smooth" from ''Cyberdine'' (2012) * Mishka & Rad Reef - "Hyperbolic Chamber Music" (2012) * Hot Sugar - "No Joke" from ''Midi Murder'' (2012) * Hot Sugar - "Mama, I'm a Man" and "56k" from ''Made Man'' (2013) *

Juiceboxxx Juiceboxxx is an American rapper, producer, and label-owner based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Music Juiceboxxx released his first album in 2005: ''R U There God?? Itz Me Juiceboxxx'' on Vicious Pop Records. In 2010, Juiceboxxx released two mixtap ...

- "Pump It (Remix)" (2013) * Kitty - "Scout Finch Bitch" from '' D.A.I.S.Y. Rage'' (2013) *

- "Underwater Tank" from ''The Weeping Worm'' (2014) * Jesse Medina - "Dream Big, Think Bigger" from ''Meet Jesse Medina'' (2014) * Little Pain - "Pain Killers" from ''L.I.T.T.L.E.'' (2014) *

Pictureplane Travis Egedy (born May 1, 1985), better known by his stage name Pictureplane, is an American electronic musician, visual artist and fashion designer based in Brooklyn, New York. He first appeared in the music scene of Denver, Colorado, making a ...

- "Total Confusion" (2015) *

Crookers Crookers is the musical project of Italian DJ and producer Francesco "Phra" Barbaglia. Crookers was originally a duo consisting of Phra and fellow producer Bot, who worked together from 2003 to 2012. When the two artists met, both were trying to ...

- "Strokin'" from ''Sixteen Chapel'' (2015) *

Shy Girls Dan Vidmar, best known by his stage name Shy Girls, is an American alternative R&B singer-songwriter and producer currently based in Portland, Oregon. His debut EP, ''Timeshare'', was released in 2013 to critical acclaim on the Internet. Throu ...

- "Xhampagne" from ''4WZ'' (2015) *

- "Whole Half" and "Patience" from ''

Lil Me ''Lil Me'' is the debut mixtape by American rapper Wiki. It was released on December 7, 2015, by Letter Racer Records. The mixtape features guest appearances from his Ratking cohorts Hak and Sporting Life, as well as Skepta, Antwon, Micachu, a ...

'' (2015) * Wiki - "God Bless Me (Remix)" (2016) *

clipping. Clipping (stylized as clipping.) is an American experimental hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. The group consists of rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. History Diggs and Hutson met in grade school, ...

- "Back Up" from ''Wriggle'' (2016) *

Corbin Corbin may refer to: People * Corbin (given name) * Corbin (surname) * Corbin (musician), American singer Buildings * Corbin Building, a historic building located at 192 Broadway in New York, US * Corbin Cabin, a log structure in Shenandoah ...

- "Something Safe" from ''Mourn'' (2017)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1986 births Living people West Coast hip hop musicians People from San Jose, California Songwriters from California Rappers from California African-American male rappers American male rappers American rappers of Filipino descent People from Key West, Florida Songwriters from Florida People from Sunnyvale, California 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people American male songwriters