T-Bone (rapper)

Last updated

T-Bone
Birth nameRene Francisco Sotomayor
Also known asBoney Bone Corleone, Bone Soprano, T
Born (1973-08-11) August 11, 1973 (age 51)
San Francisco, California, US
Genres Christian hip hop
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • activist
Instrument(s) Rapping, beatboxing
Years active1989–present
Labels
  • Metro One
  • Flicker/Boneyard
  • Sony Provident
  • Canzion Group LP
  • Heaven Music Group
Website houseoftbone.com

Rene Francisco Sotomayor, better known by the stage name T-Bone, is a Christian rapper. His father was Nicaraguan and his mother is Salvadoran. [1] His name came from being called 'Bones' as a youngster because he was very skinny. The 'T' was "added to give the name a little slang edge."

Contents

Music career

He started rapping at the age of seven at parties and in rap battles.

After opening for a rock group, he signed his first record deal. [2] His released three albums on the independent Metro One record label: Redeemed Hoodlum in 1993, Tha Life of a Hoodlum in 1995 and Tha Hoodlum's Testimony in 1996. All three albums were characterized as gangsta rap albums, which was rare in Christian music at the time.

In 1997, he released History of a Hoodlum, a compilation of hits from his first three albums, on the Metro One record label.

After a brief hiatus, T-Bone released his fourth album, and first on the Flicker Records music label, The Last Street Preacha , in 2001. It received critical acclaim, was nominated for the Rock Gospel Album Grammy Award, [3] and saw T-Bone break into the contemporary Christian music market. It was the first rap album to debut at No. 7 on the Christian Contemporary Music charts.[ clarification needed ][ citation needed ]

2002 saw an increased exposure of T-Bone to both Christian and mainstream markets with the release of his fifth album, Gospelalphamegafunkyboogiediscomusic. The album was characterized by the guest appearance of hip-hop legend KRS-One on the title track – returning the favor of the controversial guest spot T-Bone had made on KRS-One's Spiritual Minded album earlier in the year. [4]

2005 saw the release of his most successful album to date, Bone-A-Fide . The album cover controversially featured T-Bone in an image evoking Che Guevara, leading to concerns that he was promoting communist ideologies – charges he denied. [5] Adding to the controversy were collaborations with two major secular rappers, Mack 10 and Chino XL.

Bone-A-Fide was his first album not to be produced by long-time collaborator Chase Dante and saw T-Bone move away from the previous West Coast sound of his earlier albums to a smoother, more East Coast sound. [6] Also, in 2005, he was featured as Jairus in the rock opera !Hero , along with Michael Tait of Tait and dc Talk, Rebecca St. James, and Mark Stuart of Audio Adrenaline.

Bone-Appétit: Servin' Up tha Hits , a compilation set of hits from his last three albums, was released on September 25, 2007. [7]

Pa mi Dios y Pa mi Gente (For My God and For My People) was released on April 7, 2017 and Broken English was released on March 15, 2018. [8]

Other works

Film career

T-Bone's first major film role was in 2003, playing the role of Briggs, a rapping prisoner in the comedy-romance The Fighting Temptations , starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles. In the film, T-Bone performs the song "To da River" with secular artists Lil Zane and Montell Jordan. Also in 2003, he starred in Black Rose.

He co-starred in the 2006 Paramount/MTV film All You've Got . His other films include Carman and Stephen Yake's R.I.O.T.,The Rally (2009) and I'm in Love with a Church Girl (2013).

TV shows

Works

Albums

YearTitleRecord labelProducer
1993Redeemed HoodlumMetro OneLA Posse
1995Tha Life of a HoodlumMetro OneLA Posse
1996Tha Hoodlum's TestimonyMetro OneLA Posse
1997History of a Hoodlum
(compilation album)		Metro OneLA Posse
2001 Tha Last Street Preacha Flicker/BoneyardT-BONE
2001The Boneyard Box Set
(compilation album)		Metro OneLA Posse
2002GospelalphamegafunkyboogiediscomusicFlicker/BoneyardT-BONE
2005 Bone-A-Fide Flicker/Boneyard/Provident/Sony/BMGT-BONE
2007 Bone-Appétit: Servin' Up tha Hits
(compilation album)		Boneyard/Provident-Integrity DistributionT-BONE
2017Pa mi Dios y Pa mi GenteCanzion Group LPT-BONE
2018Broken EnglishHeaven Music GroupT-BONE

Collaborative works

Music videos

Films

Other

Awards and nominations

Grammy Nominations

Visionary Award Nominations

Dove Awards

2008:

2004:

2002:

1997:

1995:

1993:

Collaborations

Songs

Soundtracks

Producers

Additional highlights

References

  1. ↑ House of T-Bone Archived April 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Articles - Interview with T-Bone". GospelFlava.com. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Complete list of Grammy nominations", The Seattle Times , January 4, 2002.
  4. ↑ "T-Bone (gospelalphamegafunkyboogiediscomusic)". GospelFlava.com. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  5. ↑ "T-Bone Interview (2005) - Articles". GOSPELflava.com. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  6. ↑ "T-Bone - Bone-A-Fide". Christianitytoday.com. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  7. ↑ Rapzilla.com - New T-Bone Release Hot Off the Grill September 25 Archived July 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Sarachik, Justin (March 16, 2018). "Christian Hip-Hop Legend T-Bone Releases Final Album 'Broken English'" . Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  9. ↑ Rapzilla.com - T-Bone - Name Droppin' Archived February 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ Rapzilla.com - T-Bone "Can I Live" Archived March 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ↑ Rapzilla.com - T-Bone "Ride Wit Me" Archived December 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ "The Christian Music Hall of Fame official web site". Hallmuseum.com. November 6, 2010. Archived from the original on November 23, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
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