Anthony Depula (June 28, 1966 – April 4, 2009), known professionally as Tony D, was an American hip hop artist from
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.MC and a DJ, he was most famous for being an influential producer in hip hop music. He was the producer behind
Poor Righteous Teachers
Poor Righteous Teachers was a hip hop group from Trenton, New Jersey, founded in 1989. Often referred to as PRT by its fans, Poor Righteous Teachers was known as a socially and politically conscious hip hop group, with musical content inspired ...
, YZ, Blaque Spurm, Baby Chill and The Funk Family. He has also produced tracks for
Young Zee
Dewayne Battle (born December 24, 1970), known professionally as Young Zee, is an American underground hip hop emcee. He was a former member of the Outsidaz, alongside Pacewon.
Career
Outsidaz
The Outsidaz, a large hip hop crew that became t ...
,
Outsidaz
The Outsidaz were an American hip hop collective from Newark, New Jersey, perhaps best known through their affiliation with fellow New York-area, New Jersey rappers the Fugees and Detroit-area rappers D12.
History
The group formed in 1991 af ...
, Pace Won, Blvd Mosse, King Sun, Scott Lark, Kwest tha Madd Lad and Shawn Lov.
Tony D was the first artist to have a record released on Mark Rae's burgeoning British
Grand Central Records
Grand Central Records was an independent record label based in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, England. It was started in 1995 by DJ Mark Rae (who, along with Steve Christian makes up the duo Rae & Christian). Rae started out working as ...
independent record label (then called Gone Clear Records). His other albums were released on his label Cha-Ching Records and 4th & B'way/
Island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
/
PolyGram Records
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
Profile Records
Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records.
History
In 1980, Cory Robbins, who was 23 at the time and had worked briefly for MCA, wanted to start a record label. ...
called Déjà Vu - It’s ‘82.
Tony D's early records were sampled by several artists, including Naughty by Nature on the hit " O.P.P." and by
Heavy D
Dwight Arrington MyersCuda, Heidi Sigmund Keeping it reel. ''Vibe'' ("born Dwight Arrington Myers")Samuels, Anita M. (January 12' 1996)Heavy D, the C.E.O. ''New York Times'' (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), known professionally as Heav ...
without permission. All cases were settled out of court.
Apart from Tony D, Depula was also known professionally under the names Harvee Wallbangar, Don Nots, Don Sluggo, the Goombata and, in his earliest credits, Grand Pubha Tony D.
Later life
Later in life, Depula hosted a weekly hip hop radio show on
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
's 103.3 FM
WPRB
WPRB (103.3 MHz) is an FM radio station licensed to Princeton, New Jersey, and owned by Princeton Broadcasting Service, Inc. It broadcasts a freeform radio format, including shoegaze, slowcore, noise music
Noise music is a genre of music t ...
, which aired in Central New Jersey.
Death
Depula died on April 4, 2009, after being involved in a car accident near his home in
Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey
Hamilton Township is a township in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is the largest suburb of Trenton, the state's capital, which is located to the township's west. The township is within the New York metropolitan area as defined ...
.
Discography
* ''Music Makes You Move'' (1988)
* ''Euro-K'' (1990) (DJ mix)
* ''Droppin' Funky Verses'' (1991) U.S. R&B #71
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
* ''
Deja Vu, It's '82
''Deja Vu - It's '82'' is the debut and only studio album by the hip-hop group Crusaders For Real Hip-Hop. the album was released on March 17, 1992, on Profile Records
Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-h ...
'' (with Crusaders for Real Hip-Hop) (1992)
* ''Flav (Beats) from the Cave'' (1994)
* ''Trenton Connection'' (1996) contains ''Come Back to You'' used on AIM Fabriclive.17
* ''Pound for Pound'' (1997)
* ''Master of the Moaning Beats'' (2001)
* ''Revone - I'm Still Here'' (2002)
* ''Da Goodfella (Cassette, EP)'' (2020)
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...