Anthony Terrell Smith (born March 3, 1966), better known by his
stage name
A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
Tone Lōc (), is an American rapper, actor, and producer. He is known for his raspy voice, his hit songs "
Wild Thing" and "
Funky Cold Medina
"Funky Cold Medina" is a hip hop song written by Young MC, Matt Dike and Michael Ross, and first performed by American rapper, actor and producer Tone Lōc. It was the second single from Lōc's debut album, ''Lōc-ed After Dark'' (1989). The si ...
", for which he was nominated for a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
, and for being featured in "
We're All in the Same Gang
"We're All in the Same Gang" is a 1990 Grammy nominated single by the West Coast Rap All-Stars, a collaboration of West Coast hip-hop artists who assembled for this song, which promoted an anti-violence message.
Production
Produced by Dr. Dre, th ...
", a collaborative single by the
West Coast Rap All-Stars.
Early life
Anthony Terrell Smith was born March 3, 1966, in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, the son of Margaret, who managed a retirement home, and James Smith. His father died in 1972, and Tony and his three older brothers were raised by his mother.
He was educated at the
Hollywood Professional School
Hollywood Professional School was a private school in Hollywood, California. Initially established as a music conservatory by pianist Gladys T. Littell in 1921 under the name Hollywood Conservatory of Music and Arts, the school quickly expanded it ...
.
As a teenager he performed with the Triple A rap group.
Career
Mainstream success (1989–1991)
Tone Lōc's debut album, ''
Lōc-ed After Dark
''Lōc-ed After Dark'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Tone Lōc. It was released on January 23, 1989 via Delicious Vinyl. Production was handled by Matt Dike, Michael Ross and The Dust Brothers. The album reached the number-one spot ...
'', was released in January 1989. The video for the first single, "
Wild Thing," became a staple on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
in the
US. The song rose to No. 2 on the US Hot 100, and the top twenty in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. The second single, "
Funky Cold Medina
"Funky Cold Medina" is a hip hop song written by Young MC, Matt Dike and Michael Ross, and first performed by American rapper, actor and producer Tone Lōc. It was the second single from Lōc's debut album, ''Lōc-ed After Dark'' (1989). The si ...
," 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.
''Lōc-ed After Dark'' reached No. 1 in the US. Since its release, has been certified 2× platinum there.
Tone Lōc's second album ''
Cool Hand Lōc
''Cool Hand Lōc'' is the second and final studio album by American rapper Tone Lōc. It was released on November 19, 1991 via Delicious Vinyl. Production was handled by Michael Ross, Matt Dike, Tony Joseph, Quicksilver, Def Jef, Sir Jinx and Tone ...
'' 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
Rap Songs
Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...
chart. It received frequent airplay on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and
BET
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...
.
''Ace Ventura Pet Detective'' franchise, and other endeavors (1994–2004)
Tone Lōc's song "Ace Is in the House" (which samples the
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...
song "
No Sleep till Brooklyn
"No Sleep till Brooklyn" is a song by the New York hip hop group the Beastie Boys, and the sixth single from their debut studio album, ''Licensed to Ill''. One of their signature songs, it describes an exhaustive tour and all the events that mak ...
") is featured in the films ''
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' (1994) and ''
Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective'' (2009).
He provided vocals for
Fefe Dobson
Felicia Lily Dobson (born February 28, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Born in Toronto, Ontario, she began performing as a teenager, during which time she received and refused an offer from Jive Records for a recording contract. Dobso ...
for the track "Rock It 'Til You Drop It" on her first album, 2003's ''
Fefe Dobson
Felicia Lily Dobson (born February 28, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Born in Toronto, Ontario, she began performing as a teenager, during which time she received and refused an offer from Jive Records for a recording contract. Dobso ...
''.
Tone Lōc also voiced "Fūd Wrapper", the host of the
animatronic
Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions.
It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...
show ''
Food Rocks
Food Rocks was an attraction at Epcot's '' The Land'' pavilion presented by Nestlé in the Walt Disney World Resort. The attraction, a musical stage show, with audio-animatronic figures, opened in 1994.
Synopsis
The show was themed as a benefit ...
''. This was played at
Epcot
Epcot, stylized in all uppercase as EPCOT, is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division. Inspired by an unreal ...
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 ''
Touched by an Angel
''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced b ...
'', season 2 episode 8, which aired November 11, 1995.
Television, film and voice acting (1992–present)
Tone Lōc has performed in several feature films, including Heat, ''
Poetic Justice
Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, henc ...
'', ''
Blank Check
A blank cheque in the literal sense is a cheque that has no monetary value written in, but is already signed. In the figurative sense, it is used to describe a situation in which an agreement has been made that is open-ended or vague, and therefo ...
'' and ''
Posse
Posse is a shortened form of posse comitatus, a group of people summoned to assist law enforcement. The term is also used colloquially to mean a group of friends or associates.
Posse may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Posse'' (1975 ...
''.
As a
voice actor
Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...
, Tone Lōc has voiced characters in several television cartoon series such as ''
King of the Hill
''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...
'' and ''
C-Bear and Jamal
''C Bear and Jamal'' is an German-American animated musical comedy children's television series that originally aired on the Fox Kids programming block from 1996 to 1997. It centers on an elementary school-aged boy named Jamal, whose constant comp ...
'',
and was featured in the animated film ''
Bébé's Kids
''Bebe's Kids'' (also marketed as ''Robin Harris' Bébé's Kids'') is a 1992 American adult animated comedy film produced by Hyperion Studio for Paramount Pictures. Directed by Bruce W. Smith, in his directorial debut, it is based upon comedian ...
'', playing the wise-cracking baby Pee Wee.
He voiced the character Lou the Goanna in the 1992 film ''
FernGully: The Last Rainforest''. He has also provided his signature voice for episodes of ''
Uncle Grandpa
''Uncle Grandpa'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Browngardt for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 2, 2013 to June 30, 2017. It is based on Browngardt's animated short of the same name from the unaired '' Cartoons ...
'', and
''Chowder'', both airing on
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
. In 2021, Loc was featured in ''
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder'' as the singing voice of Penny on
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...
.
''I Love the 90s'' Tour (2016–present)
Currently, he is among the list of performers on the ''I Love the 90s tour'' which has performed worldwide from April 2016 to the present,
as well as having featured appearances on the ''
I Love the 90s: The Party Continues tour'' from July 2017 to September 2017.
Personal life
Legal issues
In December 2010, Lōc was arrested for an alleged
DUI
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
. He was released on bail claiming a medical condition had caused a seizure.
On June 18, 2011, Tone Lōc was arrested for felony domestic violence and felony possession of a
Colt AR-15
The Colt AR-15 is a lightweight, magazine-fed, gas-operated semi-automatic rifle. It is a semi-automatic version of the M16 rifle sold for the civilian and law enforcement markets in the United States. Colt's Manufacturing Company currently ...
Sporter rifle,
heavily restricted by California law, but not involved in the domestic incident
after an altercation with the mother of one of his children. He was released less than three hours later after posting $50,000 bail. 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.
On March 23, 2019, Tone Loc was detained by the Midland Police Department in
Midland, Texas
Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County.
At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...
.
Health problems
Tone Lōc has collapsed onstage multiple times since 1995; some if not all of these collapses have been due to
seizure
An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...
s, according to at least one report.
On May 29, 2009, he was rushed to a Florida hospital
after collapsing during a concert in Pensacola.
The rapper cut his elbow when he fell and was released the same day.
On October 15, 2011, he was hospitalized for exhaustion after collapsing onstage during a concert in Atlanta. He was taken to a local hospital where he was intravenously rehydrated. Another similar incident occurred in 2012.
On March 16, 2013, he collapsed onstage, at a performance at the ''Bridge Bash'' in Des Moines, Iowa,
but he refused hospital care.
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.
He wears his signature sunglasses at every performance to help reduce the likelihood of a seizure.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
Notes
Featured singles
Awards and nominations
Filmography
Film
Television
See also
*
List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in t ...
*
List of number-one dance hits (United States)
This is a list of number-one dance hits as recorded by ''Billboard'' magazine's Dance Club Songs chart – a weekly national survey of popular songs in U.S. dance clubs. It began on October 26, 1974, under the title ''Disco Action'' chart. It is c ...
References
External links
Official site*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tone Loc
1966 births
African-American male actors
African-American male rappers
American dance musicians
American male voice actors
Delicious Vinyl artists
Living people
Male actors from Los Angeles
Rappers from Los Angeles
West Coast hip hop musicians
University High School (Los Angeles) alumni
Crips
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American people