Tonedeff

Hip-Hop

He's garnered a rep for his signature, rapid-fire delivery, yet he's considerably more than just a fast rapper. He sings and produces-though not quite a singer nor producer-and is the founder of QN5 Music, though you wouldn't just call him a label head. He's the artist you can't quite categorize. Perhaps most impressive is that he does all of these things, and well. With a background as colorful as his talents, Tonedeff grew up in Chicago, IL, before moving to Miami, FL, for the remainder of his adolescence. While it was in Miami that he began recording and performing, it wasn't until relocating to Queens, NY at 21 that the well-traveled emcee really began making noise. He won a string of battles, including the Braggin' Rites MC Battle and NYC's notorious Da Cypha battles, to name a few. At the same time, he built a name for himself by opening for esteemed acts such as Common, Royce Da 5'9, Beatnuts, Brand Nubian and Rahzel. Where most up-and-comers hit a stalemate, however, Tonedeff had only just begun. After forming the independent label QN5 Music in 2000, he released a series of work including the enhanced Hyphen EP, Happy F*ck You Songs with Extended F@mm, the Clear 'Em Out 12 single with KRS-One, and countless guest spots for artists such as Masta Ace, DJ JS-1 and CunninLynguists. 2003 saw him grace the pages of The Source Magazine and the MTV airwaves in a commercial for Hip Hop Week. April 2005 marks the release of Archetype, his long-anticipated debut LP. A culmina...