Tony Touch
also known as Tony Toca
American hip hop DJ MC, B-boy, and producer
Hometown : Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City

Tony Touch biography :

“I’ve probably got more mixtapes than any other DJ on the planet,” boasts Brooklyn’s underground legend Tony Touch, or Tony Toca- as he’s affectionately referred to in the hip hop community. Coming from any other DJ, this would sound like a bloated and boastful declaration of pure mixing bravado, but from Tony Touch, it’s an accurate representation as to why he’s probably one of the most famous DJ’s in hip hop today.

A native New Yorker of Puerto Rican and Taino Indian descent, Tony cut his teeth in the world of hip hop as a B-boy during the rap music renaissance of the early 80’s. Heavily influenced by pioneers like Crazy Legs and the Rocksteady Crew, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Red Alert, Tony gradually shifted his interests towards the turntables. As a result, he began spewing out mixtapes of original material at a geometric rate. Most notable were his “50 Emcees” trilogy that consisted of three tapes, each one showcasing the talents of no less than 50 rappers. Some of the emcees that contributed to the series include KRS-One, Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Busta Rhymes and the Wu-Tang Clan. The series won him the “Best Freestyle’s” award at the Justo Mix Tape awards four years in a row. “50 Emcees” made a lasting impression on the hip hop community and introduced many new listeners to the Tony Touch sound.

“Everybody has their own distinct sound,” says Tony. “Kid Capri’s got his sound. Clue’s got his sound. Flex’s got his sound. And I’ve got my sound. My sound is like straight Nuyorican soul. I’m Puerto Rican. I grew up in New York, it’s all Spanglish. We’ve got an English-Spanish dialogue going on so you’ll hear that in my music. It’s straight Latino with a real dope, hip-hop edge.”

After releasing a whopping 75 mixtapes on his own Touch Entertainment imprint, Tony released The Piece Maker on Tommy Boy Records in 2000. The “Piece Maker ” was 21 tracks deep and featured new joints from renowned artists like Big Pun, Wu-Tang Clan, Busta Rhymes, The Liks, Cypress Hill, Gang Starr, Eminem, De La Soul and more, and went on to sell over 400,000 units worldwide. The single “I Wonder Why” featuring Total was put to video and featured guest appearances and cameos from John Leguizamo, Rock Steady, Grand Master Flash, Red Alert, and Marley Marl.

Now, Tony is gearing up to release the second CD in this installment, The Piece Maker 2 on February 24th in conjunction with KOCH Records. The CD features 17 tracks all as star-studded as the first. Fat Joe, Nore & Juju appear on “Capicu” a word that anyone will know who has witnessed or played in your neighborhood Dominos game ; P. Diddy appears with Black Rob & G. Dep on “Non Stop” taking inspiration from an old Stetsasonic song for their chorus ; Slick Rick sounds like perfection with his story telling skills on “Trouble On the West Side Highway,” and just to let you know it’s a Tony Toca CD, Tony & Doo-Wop appear as the Diaz brothers on “Click Bang.” Other artists featured on this new release include Wu-Tang members Method Man, Raekwon & U-God, Redman, Erick Sermon, Keith Murray, Sean Paul Salsa legend Ruben Blades and many more (over 50 appearances as usual).

Along with regularly spinning at clubs in New York, Miami, Puerto Rico, Japan and Europe, Tony has toured with Guru’s Jazzmatazz tour, Cypress Hill, Fat Joe & Big Pun, and was recently spotted on Saturday Night Live spinning for Eminem ; and has also appeared on albums from Sean Paul, The Beatnuts, Boot Camp Click and Kay Slay just to name a few. Tony Touch also can now be heard in the tri-state area every Saturday night from 11pm-2am on Power 105.1 as well as an on-air personality every Saturday & Sunday from 2-6pm.

Tony Touch Discography

Tony Touch albums
1998 : Rican-Struction (EP)
2000 : The Piece Maker
2002 : The Last of the Pro Ricans (mix CD)
2004 : The Piece Maker 2
2005 : The Reggaetony Album
2005 : Mic Destruction (mix CD)
2007 : Reggaetony 2 (Toca International)

Tony Touch website : www.tonytouch.com

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