Antonio Cruz (born April 23, 1977), known professionally as Tony Sunshine, is an American R&B singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known as a member of

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of Hip-hop, hip hop group D.I.T.C., Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1992, and pursued a sol ...

's hip hop group Terror Squad in the late 1990s, and notably guest appeared on group cohort

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx, he came to prominence upon discover ...

's 2000 single, " 100%" and also appeared on Cuban Link's single "Still Telling Lies" that same year. His guest appearance alongside Armageddon on Fat Joe's 2003 single, "All I Need" peaked at number 54 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, while his guest appearance on Lumidee's 2007 cover " She's Like the Wind" peaked at number 43 on the chart. He was led by Joe to sign with

Jive Records Jive Records (later stylized as JIVE Records) was a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group of Companies, Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chic ...

to release his 2004 debut single "Oh My God" (featuring Diddy and Dirtbag), which failed to chart.

Early life

Raised in the Bronx, Cruz was discovered by fellow Bronx native

at the age of thirteen, who attempted to secure a recording contract for the teen. Cruz then adopted the name Tony Sunshine, and ultimately became a member of Terror Squad. Fat Joe, the group's leader, said he respected and understood Cruz's talent.DubCNN Interview
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Career

Cruz performed vocals for Terror Squad cohort Big Pun, on his songs "100%", "Laughin at You", and "My Dick". He has also appeared on Fat Joe's songs "TS Piece" and "All I Need". Terror Squad's self-titled debut album was released in 1999, on which Cruz made numerous appearances. Cruz has also appeared on Cuban Link's 24K album, contributing vocals to the tracks "Freak Out", "Still Telling Lies", "Hey Mama", and "Taste of Pastry". Cruz signed with

to release his 2004 single "Oh My God", which failed to chart. Fat Joe was then able to finalize a record deal for Cruz in 2005 with Epic and

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

, although he was dropped in May of the following year and subsequently signed to Urban Box Office. In November 2006, the label collapsed and left Cruz as an independent artist. In 2007, he guest featured on fellow New York singer Lumidee's single, " She's Like the Wind". As well as the English version, a

Spanglish Spanglish (a blend of the words "Spanish" and "English") is any language variety (such as a contact dialect, hybrid language, pidgin, or creole language) that results from conversationally combining Spanish and English. The term is mostly u ...

version was also recorded. In 2010, he independently released the single "Say Hey" (featuring

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ in 1994. At the age ...

) in July of that year. In 2015, Cruz released the mixtape ''No Filter''. In 2016, Cruz reunited with Fat Joe and Terror Squad, although this resulted in no major releases.

Discography

Singles

*2003: "Grey Goose" (featuring

) *2004: "Oh My God" (featuring Diddy and Dirtbag) *2010: "Say Hey" *2011: "#1 Baby" *2013: "Don't Deserve" *2015: "Crying" *2016: "Danger" (featuring Chris Rivers) *2017: "Talk About it" *2018: "Take Me Away" *2019: "Bruce Leroy" *2019: "Shots Fired" *2020: "Wandas Son" (featuring Dre of Cool & Dre) *2021: "You Said"

Featured singles

*2000: " 100% (

featuring Tony Sunshine) *2000: "Still Telling Lies" ( Cuban Link featuring Tony Sunshine) *2003: "All I Need" (Fat Joe featuring Tony Sunshine and Armageddon) *2007: " She's Like the Wind" ( Lumidee featuring Tony Sunshine)

Mixtapes

*2015: ''No Filter''

References

External links

*
Tony Sunshine on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunshine, Tony American contemporary R&B singers Terror Squad (group) members Rappers from the Bronx Living people 1977 births 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American singers