“My life began out of the ordinary,” says Hussle. “See, my moms had me while she was playing the piano and catching the Holy Ghost in church. I also grew up singing in Al Green’s children’s choir. Music is me and I am music.”
Growing up in a musically inclined household, Tony was already playing the piano at the age of two. And, only because he was too short to reach the foot pedals on the organ was he not able to learn how to play that, otherwise, he claims he would’ve mastered that instrument as well.
One of his many inspirations was his uncle Glen Goins, one of the original members of the Parliament-Funkadelic group, alongside George Clinton. “Uncle Glen and the group was always at my house so I was surrounded by music,” he explains. “People have a tendency to question why I do things the way I do and they must realize I was brought up around ‘the funk,’ so as a kid you grow up being an individual and not doing what everyone else is doing.”
His debut album Sexy, Freaky, Electric comes through the speaker like a breath of fresh air. Hussle exudes such character, it makes it hard to resist his sexual energy. On “Cum Again,” Tony’s Prince-like lyrics and Raphael Saadiq-ish vocals tease and stimulate the eardrums begging for more.
On “She’s A Virgin Too,” a track that is everything contrary to what’s drowning the airwaves today, Hussle looks past the shake-it-drop-it enigma, and shows respect to women who choose not to have sex. Make no mistake, though. Tony Hussle respects the ladies but on the track titled “Your Girl,” he proves that he still has some “hood” in him. He warns the fellas that aren’t giving their ladies enough attention: “Valentines Day is right around the corner and I made no plans because some dude is going to be slipping and I’m going to be f—king their girl.”
That same kind of confidence is what sent Hussle packing a bag of clothes along with his piano, and chasing his dream of becoming an entertainer. “Piano is all I got,” he explains. “So when I left home to pursue music all I needed was my piano.” Living the life of a Nomad, Hussle did whatever it took to get heard.
“Writing, making beats, producing for next to nothing - I did it,” Hussle confesses. “But one day, I was in the studio just singing and Raphael Saadiq came in there and was like ‘who was that?’ and just fell on the floor. From that point on the real hustle began.”
But the “Hussle” is not over yet. “I’m still hustling right now, everybody want to be a Diddy or a Nelly, but no one knows what it’s like to get there and stay there,” says Hussle. “It’s like being in the streets - you f—k around in the streets you loose your life. You f—k around in this game you loose your career. The hustle never stops.”
And when asked to bless us with his final thoughts, Hussle keeps it simple: “ I just want the people to know that I appreciate all the love and response I’m getting and with everything going on in the music industry my plan is to always keep it funky.”
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Comments
1.
henny says:
this kids going to be a star hes going to big like the lights in vegas his name will hang in the sky like the big dipper
December 16, 2006 at 10:22 am