I know Tony gets a lot of hate around here, but running this morning with my Ipod, "Gett Off" came on. I think he's perfect in that song, and also in "My name is Prince". Let's admit it folks: Tony wasn't that bad. I know Ernest hates him but anyone else like him?

Yes, Tony was THAT bad. However, I agree with you that he's good in Gett Off (his part was "Tony" proof) and Sexy MF (imo). But that's just about it.

txlaw said:

Damn Right. His stuff on Goldnigga is cool: Deuce and a Quarter, Call the Law? The man had charisma. Prince is as much to blame for the misfires as he, if not more. I like his contributions to Willing and Able, MNIP, Push, etc.

Hey, I even like Jughead. Bring on the hate.

F thAT why wouldnt p leT Brooks RAP?

Now that would be hot!

Imagine them Rapping ion "IF I WAS YOUR GIRFRIEND" or "DO U LIE?"
[Edited 3/28/10 18:15pm]

That dude was the worse..the more I heard him,the more I thought Prince was losing it..to let someone that talentless get that much shine...IMO

The only thing Tony M needs rehabilitation from was whatever crack he was smoking, making him think he sounded good WHILE he was rapping.

I didn't mine Tony so much on the cds, but he was awful live. He tended to yell his lyrics, rather than rap or sing them. I remember an MTV interview where he was asked what is was like working with Prince, and he said "You should ask him what it's like to work with us". When I went to the Beautiful Experience concert and he was not on stage with Prince, I was so glad. Although he did come on before Prince and "rap" some song.

SavonOsco said:

Agreed. Tony M. has no real talent as a rapper. His deliveries are lazy, and unpalatable to the beats. His pseudo-gangsta stance was just as silly as a chihuahua barking loudly pretending to be a German Shepherd. While Goldnigga had some great underlying funk songs, Tony's presence demoted the songs to lackluster forays into gangsta rap. It makes one long for the Burger King bathroom line from "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground (which was a much more legit rap group than the first NPG would ever approach).

Diamonds and Pearls and are 100x stronger albums without those raps on them, and the editing of him out of those songs prove that, fully. The raps were almost always situated near the last minute of the song. The raps on those songs were treated as an afterthought, not a creative process whilst the song was being written. When you listen to those 8 or 9 songs from those two albums without the rap sections of Tony M., they're totally different.

He's still in there from time to time with "Ima push upon it", or whatever, but "Pop Daddy", "Push", "Live 4 Love", "Willing & Able", "My Name is Prince", "Sexy MF", "Love 2 the 9's", and "The Flow" become incredibly interesting, and interestingly incredible, funk and rock outings. They're more centered and coherent, thoughtout and commercial.

Prince's attempt at commercial relevance could have been bigger in 1991 had he left The Game Boyz off the payroll, and off the record. Instead of letting Rosie stand out on tracks like "Diamonds and Pearls", and "Cream", or "Gett Off", she ends up battling for a moment of spotlight while Tony attempts to ram black down Prince's throat. The only thing rammed was the stunted effort to reinvigorate Prince's career as a listen-worthy artist.

I don't hate him. I think he's ridiculously irrelevant to those songs on Diamonds and Pearls, and ; my reasoning for that above.

Waiat, Rehab him or resurrect him?

I think Tony was not truly truly the problem. You can't dismiss him over bad technique because Biz Markie and Eric Sermon, two real stumble-mouthed mc's, were hot on the charts and in the streets at the time. In another situation with real hip-hop heads Tony might have been successful. I think it mostly comes down to the beats not being true hip-hop.

Anybody any ideas as to what Tony M is doing these days? Last i heard he was going under "The Deacon" name and planning to release an album.

razord said:

Really? Last I heard he was cooking "Bacon" and flipping burgers.

I actually kinda liked Tony's song on the New Power Generation maxi single, "Brother With A Purpose". "Call The Law" was ok, and his contribution to "Gett Off" was not unpleasant. Other than those 3 songs, IMO, his presence is largely forgettable.

Honestly,I never had a problem with Tony.I like some of his raps on the 'Love Symbol' album.His presence on that album and 'D&P' brings a party atmosphere to the music.

motherfunka said:

I remember that interview I thought "Wow,he's getting a little cocky and arrogant now".

Rehabilitate ?
i think euthanasia would b kinder.

i believe Tony's most used 'rap' these days is,

"do you want fries with that ?"

ernestsewell said:

I agree with most of this. But I don't think he was THAT awful. He is completely unnecessary and works against the music, but he himself wasn't that bad. He did actually have a few decent moments on record.

But he does serve to distract from otherwise pretty good songs, though. Some of the tracks he's on are actually pretty interesting and I can see myself really listening to them and digging into them, but I just know he's going to come along. I completely turn off my brain when he shows up. And I know I'm going to when the song starts, so in a lot of cases, the entire song just kind of passes me by without me really giving it its due.

At one point, I made a very large "best of" and completely edited Tony M. out of the singles from that era (except "Gett Off""). It was very easy in most cases and vastly improved the listening experience.

errant said:

I was just going to ask if you had my Tony M. edits I recently did.

I didn't find a way to edit him out of "Gett Off" either, although it's probably possible. I took as little of the original song out as possible while taking Tony M. out of the others. I literally took his part out and blended the before and after together. I did the same when I took Larry Graham's chant out of "Everyday Is A Winding Road".

After the first few listens, I eventually broke the habit of expecting the raps. now, the rap-free versions are my "norm".

Am I the only person on earth that thinks he was really great in "The Flow" from the album?

TheVoid said:

yes.

I have never understood the hate that surrounds what he did. His raps sounded pretty 1991 to me - just what was going on at the time.

Then again I think D&P is complete shit anyway so it's hard to differentiate.

ernestsewell said:

I don't mind him in Gett Off. and he sings (or says) some main lines of the chorus, so it's kind of pointless to take him out of that.

the ones that gave me fits were Willing & Able and Sexy MF. Willing & Able just took a whole lot of work. Sexy MF, I never found a way to do it without completely cutting out that entire middle passage including the band solos, etc. which sucks to lose, but on the bright side it cuts the song down to about 3 and 1/2 minutes for a singles comp

TheVoid said:

The Flow and Willing & Able are, to me, his shining moments. if you can call them that.

abigail05 said:

I encourage you to listen to the album without the Tony M. raps in it. It's totally different, trust me. I was never a fan of the D&P album. It's slowly grown on me over the years. Once I finally sat down and took Tony out - whole new world. Honestly. I enjoy the album a lot now.

Same goes for the album. I always loved that album, but it's much stronger w/o Tony on those songs (and I also shortened "The Continental").

ernestsewell said:

you know, I thought the album had a lot of really great stuff on it. And I hate to say it but on that horrible My Name Is Prince song I thought Tony was kind of good!

erik319 said:

razord said:

I don't know what he is doing, but I saw him at the 07/07/07 show and his seats were behind mine. Damon was driving a school bus a couple years after he was let go.

To be rehabilitated, he'd have to want to change.

I see tony has a few more fans than I expected. Granted, his rapping was all that bad. However, in a lot of songs, there was no need for rapping period. Willing and Able, Live 4 Love, Love 2 the 9's, ect. I suppose Prince is to blame when it boils down to it.