Tone Loc
Tongue-in-cheek Los Angeles artist (b. Anthony Smith - his stage name derived from his Spanish nickname, Antonio Loco), Tone Loc's hoarse raps boast of incredible personal sexual allure, allied to a background of smooth jazz, soul and bluebeat. His debut album featured the two worldwide 1990 hits, "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina", both built on sparse rock samples. The songs were written by Marvin Young, aka Young MC, "Wild Thing" going on to become America's second biggest-selling single of all time. It also created one of the strangest moral panic scares of its era, when certain pundits suggested it gave rise to the "Wilding" craze, where young black men prowled the streets in order to rob, rape and kill. This was simple paranoia, and clearly had nothing to do with the career of Smith, whose alarmingly deep, husky vocals always enabled a sense of humour and self-deprecation to permeate through his recordings. Loc'ed After Dark made the US number 1 spot, only the second rap album to do so. "All Through The Night", the first single from his follow-up LP, featured the Brand New Heavies in support. However, its failure to crack the Top 20 indicated a small reversal in his fortunes. He also contributed dialogue to the animated film Bebe's Kids, and starred in Posse
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Albums
- (1989) Loc-ed After Dark
Top Tracks
- Wild Thing
- Funky Cold Medina
- Cheeba Cheeba
- Loc'ed After Dark
- If I'm Gonna Eat Somebody (It Might As Well Be You)
Related Artists
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