TONEX SPEAKS OF 'UNSPOKEN': Eclectic artist releases new Gospop disc.

      The album is laced with inspirational R&B-pop-alt rhythm tracks underneath motivation message driven lyrics. Describable in a mass of verbiage, but indefinable in traditional gospel sorting, is just what makes Tonex one of today’s most important artists.

      The new disc comes on Sony’s newly formed RCA/Jive label group imprint Battery after much label shuffling and record company controversy for Tonex.

      His fame grew in 2004 (he’d been recording since 1994) when his double CD “Out The Box” debuted at #1, snagged six Stellar Awards, and garnered the most critical acclaim, but that same year, the industry took its toll on the artist. He was sued by his then label, Verity Records – the gospel arm of Zomba Records, for one million dollars for breach of contract. That year, his father passed away and he divorced his wife. Frustrated, TON3X decided to retire from the gospel music industry. An attempt to reconcile with his label came in 2007, but the relationship was never fully repaired, and he split from the label just three months later.

      Since then, the artist has gone through some souls searching and variations in spelling his name – though always pronounced the same.

      “Tonex is a derivative of Anthony. Everybody called me ‘Tony’ in school, but I spelled it with an ‘e’. Then [R&B group] Tony Toni Tone came out, so I knew that wasn’t going to work whenever I decided to come out as an artist, so I added the ‘ex’. So the ‘x’ is silent; part of a French swing to it. I think there is a little ‘ex’ something in all of us,” he said. “There is something that we all overcame, but we don’t always pronounce, but we know it’s there.” 

      Clarifying his name, Tonex told EUR’s Lee Bailey the name he’s gave his music has a name, too – and it’s just as profound an explanation. His music has been described as an amalgamation of all types of genres including pop, R&B, jazz, soul, funk, hip hop, rock, and electronica, but he’s most often described as a gospel artist. He calls his style gospop.

      “It’s good news, good messages, made popular. I believe that gospel is more than a genre,” he explained. “It’s good news. The world needs good news and why shouldn’t good news be popular?”

       “I say gospop because of the foundation of what I do. Even though Ray Charles was a soul/blues/R&B artists, no one can deny that the roots of what he did was gospel. Same thing for Donny Hathaway to Aretha Franklin,” he continued. “Usually you only get that feeling when it’s attached to a traditional gospel sound. This is where you get this real, good gospel that’s anointed, from this although it’s not a traditional gospel sound. I don’t hear it that often in contemporary gospel and of course you don’t usually hear it in pop either. I’m just bringing that element and presenting that feeling to a mass audience. There’s a feeling you get when you listen to Tonex that makes you feel different from anything else you hear.”

      The lead single on the disc is called “Blend” (an appropriate title for Tonex’s music and outlook on life).

      “In this time of change and trying to find truth, I thought this was the best time to let people know that individuality and diversity can actually be celebrated. It doesn’t always have to be considered a negative thing to be an anomaly. That’s what makes the world spicy and wonderful,” he said of the track. “Everything is not black and white. There are always shades of grey. God made it that way or else we’d all be clones.”

      “Of course we all have common denominators between us all, but it’s those individual things that make the world interesting. So when we try to make compromises o f who we are to fit in with mediocrity. And those that are mediocre resent when we know someone is original, trying to dilute their truth. The song is to encourage those who are a little ‘left-field’.  You’re unique in God’s eyes. Celebrate that.”

      For more on the uniqueness of Tonex, go to the Battery Records website at www.batteryrecords.net and/or HEAR samples from "Unspoken" HERE.