Anthony Charles Williams II (born May 16, 1975), better known by his stage name B.Slade and formerly as Tonéx ( ), is an American musician, dancer, producer, and activist from San Diego, California.
Williams has released several hundred songs on dozens of albums throughout his career, has also produced several others for both gospel and secular artists. He has won six Stellar Awards, a GMA Award, and received two Grammy nominations: one for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album for his 2004 gold album, Out the Box, and another in 2009 for Best Urban/Soul Alternative Performance for his single, "Blend", from his 2009 mainstream (albeit theoretically Gospel) album, Unspoken.
Known primarily for his gospel recordings, his musical efforts blend a wide range of styles, including pop, R&B, jazz, soul, funk, hip hop, rock, Latin, electro, punk and trance. His primary influences include Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Prince, Michael Jackson, Walter Hawkins, David Bowie, and Janet Jackson. His distinct sound and eclectic style of music led him to describe his own music as a genre he called "Nureau".
Music career
Early life Born in 1975, Williams grew up in the San Diego, California area. His father, Anthony Williams, was the Senior Pastor of the Truth Apostolic Community Church in suburban Spring Valley and served as a district elder in the California District Council of the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World (PAW). His mother, E. B. Williams, was a licensed minister in the PAW and served the church as an Assistant Pastor. Anthony was the youngest of the Williamses’ six boys. Gospel music was the preferred choice at home, but other sounds made their way into Williams’ environment. His father played saxophone for James Brown and Jackie Wilson, his mother sang in various girl groups, and his older brothers sneaked in funk and R&B recordings at home. Deciding early on a musical career, he took the name "Tonex" by the time he was 13, sometimes spelling it "Tonéx"; at the age of 16, he and his parents hired his first personal manager, Benjamin Jimerson (also known as Benjamin Jimerson-Phillips), in 1991. Jimerson, who has since become a film producer, stated: "From the first moment I saw Tonex and he sang his first note, I realized I was dealing with a young man destined to become a major celebrity."
1996–2000: Early career Rescue was still a small label, and Pronounced Toe-Nay was issued in a limited production run and distributed mostly from the back of Williams' car. Young gospel fans, however, quickly caught on to the innovative variety of music on Pronounced Toe-Nay. The album's producer, T. Boy, was an alter ego of Tonéx himself. The album was divided by style into seven sections: hip-hop/rap, retro/funk, the future, jazz, mellow grooves, soul/gospel, and bonus tracks. In the recordings of Kirk Franklin and others, hip-hop had previously made inroads into gospel music, but this kind of wild eclectic mix was completely new. At the time, the digital reproduction of music was in its infancy, and rare copies of the album became prized possessions. The album garnered the attention of the producers at the 14th Annual Stellar Awards, and Tonéx was added to the lineup. His performance made a strong impression and has been noted by critics for its impact, drawing comparisons to Michael Jackson's performance at the Motown 25th Anniversary Special in 1983.
2000–2004: Rising gospel artist By this time, national labels had come calling. Tonéx was signed to an unusual three-way deal that affiliated him with the successful and growing gospel label Verity, the pop imprint Zomba, and the durable hip-hop label Tommy Boy. Tonéx made his national debut with a re-release of his most successful independent album, Pronounced Toe-Nay, in 2000.. His first high-profile television appearance was performing a medley of "Trinity" and "One Good Reason" on the Stellar Awards, which was a coup as Tonéx was relatively unknown at the time. He dubbed his particular genre-spanning musical style "Nureau".
Upon its release, Pronounced Toe-Nay bore 5 different record label logos: Rescue Records, the independent label that originally released the album; Mo' Soule Steppyn Records, Tonéx's then-active vanity imprint label; Tommy Boy Gospel, the label to which Tonéx was signed as an artist; Verity Records, the label to which his independent label Rescue Records sold his album's masters; and Jive Records, the mainstream umbrella over Verity Records. All of the material was produced, arranged, composed and performed by Tonéx, with guest appearances from his mother E.B. Williams, and the rapper Big J.
Some executives wanted to develop Tonéx's career in a secular direction, but he turned them down and kept to religious themes. "There are a lot of people who do similar things to what I do in R&B, but I wanted to use gospel lyrics," he explained in an interview quoted on the Sphinx Management website.
After going through numerous revisions, his second album, O2, was released in 2002. According to Tonéx, the title of his second album referred to the year of release, the Element Oxygen, and the album's status as his second major recording. O2 matched the stylistic eclecticism of Pronounced Toe-Nay, with each track diverging completely from the one before. The album spawned a major Christian radio hit in "God Has Not 4Got", a Stellar Award-winning song that displayed Tonéx's ability to create traditional choral gospel music as well as innovative pop fusions. USA TODAY gave it 3 stars (out of 4). The music video for the single "Bout A Thang" received heavy rotation on BET and MTV Australia and featured energetic hip-hop dance and an urban image not usually associated with Gospel artists. O2 also featured a love song, "You", directed toward the artist's then-wife Yvette Williams (née Graham), a vocalist who at times went by the name Ms. Tonéx.
Becoming known to the wider contemporary Christian music community as a result of several music industry awards and award nominations, Tonéx went on tour with contemporary gospel artists Trin-i-Tee 5:7 and Men of Standard after the release of O2. Tonéx was moved up from opening act to headliner as audiences reacted enthusiastically to his music and his high falsetto voice. He performed once more at the Stellar Awards early in 2004 and won several awards.
Even though O2 brought him more mainstream success, Tonéx said that this album was not what he had in mind for release. He continued to release independent projects via the internet that showcased even more of his versatile creativity. The most acclaimed of these works was Oak Park 92105, released on his now-defunct Nureau Underground website in 2003; Tonéx stated it was this album that he intended to release after Pronounced Toe-Nay, and not O2. A double album, Oak Park 92105 mainly dealt with Tonéx's life growing up in the Oak Park community nestled in the eastern tip of southeast San Diego, California. It was eventually re-released on iTunes in 2005 with some new songs; however, the album was not without controversy, as Tonéx opted to include a "parental advisory: explicit lyrics" notice on the front cove, reportedly the first Christian-based album to carry the notice. Tonéx said the "explicit lyrics" notice was not a result of "cussing", but rather content that "might be a little too deep for children."
2004–2006: Out The Box and accolades His 2004 live double album Out The Box earned him the most widespread acclaim so far. Divided into segments ranging from traditional gospel and praise anthems to urban dance, rock, and hip-hop, the ambitious Out The Box was a sprawling double-disc set with 36 tracks, which included innovative intros, interludes, and some studio tracks. The supporting cast included a 10-piece band, 4 dancers, a 16-voice ensemble, and a 40-voice choir. Notable guest appearances on the album included Kirk Franklin, who plays piano in the live version of "God Has Not 4Got" and appears as an artist on "Since Jesus Came", and frequent Prince percussionist Sheila E, who appears on the Latin-flavored "Todos Juntos".
Out The Box debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Gospel Album Chart in September 2004, appeared on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, and reached No. 5 on the Contemporary Christian chart. To date, it has sold over 500,000 copies. He also received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album the following year and had another bona fide Christian radio hit with the ballad "Make Me Over". In 2005, Tonéx won a total of six Stellar Awards including "Artist of the Year" for Out The Box.
2006–2010: Controversy, turbulence, and retirement from gospel In July 2004, his father died, forcing him to take on the responsibility of becoming the senior pastor of their family's church in his stead. He also divorced his wife of five years, Yvette. In 2006, Verity Records sued Williams for one million dollars, citing breach of contract. Subsequently, Tonéx announced that he would retire from the gospel music industry, frustrated by politics and mistreatment. Following the announcement, Kirk Franklin posted a personal blog on his own website sympathizing with the artist's feeling "the weight of an industry that is only built to make money, not heal broken souls". He continued releasing music independently, using MySpace as his primary vehicle for promotion.
In March 2007, a reconciliation with Zomba was announced, which would be a joint venture for his Nureau Ink label. The deal was struck under the auspices of new Zomba president James "Jazzy" Jordan (who previously had guided the careers of R. Kelly and Salt-N-Pepa). With a new record deal under his belt, he was preparing to release a double-disc set titled Stereotype: Steel & Velvet, which was slated to be released on September 11, 2007. It was purportedly described as an album that would do for his career what Thriller did for Michael Jackson, and what Purple Rain did for Prince. However, in June 2007, another split with Zomba was announced, fueled by a leak of the vitriolic and profanity-laden song "The Naked Truth", along with several similarly themed blogs and videos. Tonéx cited label frustration as one of the reasons he leaked the song, and he soon faced much scrutiny within the gospel arena for the explicit language and the angry tone of the song and its subsequent blogs. He later closed down his social media accounts for several months before resurfacing on the web in January 2008.
Recreating a softer gospel-friendly image, Williams changed his stage name to Ton3x (or TON3X) in 2008. He left the Verity Records family and signed with Battery Records, a label imprint of Sony/BMG. His only Battery Records release was the album Unspoken, released on March 17, 2009. The first single from that album, entitled "Blend", was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance, despite very little promotional/financial support from Sony/Battery, and garnered the artist his first non-gospel Grammy nomination. That year, he also presented awards at the Grammy pre-telecast, including the first two awards given to Lady Gaga, who was already backstage preparing for her show-opening performance.