This is the second in a two-part in depth interview that we had in April 2002 with Tonéx. Be sure to check out Part One, as well as our Insider Interview.

Like much of life, situations and plans don't always turn out the way that we intend. Such is the case with the musical ministry of Tonéx.

With more twists and turns than a mountain road in Switzerland, and with enough complications to puzzle even the most dedicated mathematician, the road to now for the multi-faceted San Diego artist is a story in itself.

A casual perusal of the two nationally-released solo projects from Tonéx tells part of the story.

Pronounced Toe-Nay heralded the rise of the MSS Records —Tonéx's own label to which he had signed himself and several other artists. Conversely, the O₂ album is devoid of MSS reference, and instead has that intriguing Nureau Ink logo on the back.

What's up with that, we asked.

"MSS was originally created and founded by myself in 1992. Wow, that's ten years ago, but I totally remember it like yesterday."

"I had like an Akai AX80 (y'all ninjaz don't even know about that stuff.). I still use that keyboard. My dad bought it for me way back in 1985, when I was just 10 years old. I had an Ensoniq Mirage too and a Yamaha RX5. I think I also had a 4-track."

"Anyway, that was my world from the ground up. Albums like Silent X 516 were birthed out of that pre-production studio."

"Cats like Virgil Brookins with Rajah Records, who nurtured my talent in my youth, Greg McKinney, Glenn McKinney, Ben Jimerson, a former manager of mine, they all saw the potential and groomed me and encouraged my eccentricities."

"After Silent X, I did this record called Damage that was initially only on cassette. That's where Levi (5.0) Wheeler came in. He served as executive producer and then he decided to join my efforts."

Read Part One of This Interview with Tonéx

"O2 is about my journey since I fell in love with Yvette in December of 1999. Although O2 is not a 'love album', love's influence on my life has been so heavy and predominant that it carried throughout my music this go around..." See Part One of The Interview.

"For the longest time we were like the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis of Gospel in the city of San Diego. We were selling out the trunk and making marks everywhere. My sound was synonymous with the logo for MSS and people knew if we put the concert on, it was gonna be HOT."

"By 1997, we linked up with Rescue, which led to Tommy Boy which led me to Jive, which led to Nureau Ink."

From there, things unravelled to the point where the complexities and politics of the music business, the large number of artists on MSS (eleven groups), and the added complications of being involved with that many labels lead to the demise of MSS Records. Tonéx went on to explain that even with all of the players involved, he found that the MSS camp was having to be supported by his own personal funds.

"Certain [MSS] artists couldn't wait in line for their turn. Other artists wanted to live any old kind of life and expected me to fund their vision, even though by supporting it, I would have gotten no return because it was cursed ground."

"I'm still healing from that whole ordeal with the label. I'm off the CEO kick right now and totally focused on me. Call it selfish if you want to, but if I had to choose between MSS or my wife and career? I would have to choose my wife and career."

"I had several talks with all of the artists on MSS, and I gave them what the Lord told me. He told me that if MSS was to continue, it had to run as if it were a church, and I was the Pastor."

"There was a lot of reproach being brought on by the artists on the label. And I told them if that didn't change I would have to rebuke (and drop) them openly so that others might fear. I even let artists walk away with their $10,000 advance and didn't ask for it back. I don't know of any label that will do that!"

"At the end of the day I ended up with my Mom, E.B.Williams, as the only artist left standing. Reality was a free spirit, so I let him go. I never wanted to stop him from doing what he had to do. That brother keeps it real."

"Not only did MSS fold, my relationship with Eternal Funk demised as well. It all came crashing down at once it seemed. A lot of people thought it strange that my presence on UK3 wasn't like the previous Unity Klan albums. Well, now they know why."

"There were good intentions but various motives. And I have nothing but love for them all."

Obviously a situation like that can make life difficult, in multiple ways. Disappointments at the way the whole thing turned out can easily turn to disillusionment and hard feelings, and both Tonéx and Yvette have paid a price.

"It's easy to make [my wife and I] the bad guys, because we are an open target. I mean we can't really even go to the mall anymore out here."

"But it's all good. We ain't stoppin and they ain't stoppin' nothin' either."

And here's where Tonéx spills the Nureau Ink. Contrary to assumptions, the entity is not another record label.

Brief of the Nureau Ink Delegates

Stemming from that bastion of Nureau, San Diego, and seeded in the studio machinations of Tonéx and T.Boy, this association of artists is poised to make much more... Check out the brief overview of the Nureau Ink Delegates.

"Yeah, this situation is where Nureau Ink comes from. The "Ink" is the signature sound that people try to duplicate. It's even to the point of some using my exact same sounds and patterns. But it can't be duped."

"You can come close, but I'll know if you're a delegate or not. It's like people can duplicate the Darkchild sound, but I'm sure Rodney Jerkins knows if you're an official affiliate of Darkchild or not."

"I'm not a CEO of anything anymore, except for my publishing company, Tonéxion Publishing Corp. Even though I created the sound and culture of Nureau, I don't own anyone or contractually have any more artists "under" me."

"I see talent and motives, and produce and expose humble, anointed, innovative talent. Once you're a delegate, it means not only do you have the sound and the concept of Nureau, but that you actually live the culture and speak the dialect of Nureau on the daily."

"[As a Nureau delegate], you have access to my knowledge of the business and we get the artist through the red tape. If they decide to sign with someone after that on their own, fine. But it's not like an ownership thing anymore, that's so 20th century."

"In the next 10 years or so I doubt if any artist in their right mind will even need a record label. So far the only official delegates are Claude (c. note) Harris, Jr.; Livin' it Productions, Souljahz, Gibraan, E.B. Williams, Brotha Los and Ms. Tonéx."

Tonéx then laid out a sample scenario. If something sounds like Nureau, but you're not sure if the artist is officially connected, you just need to look for the brand loyalty. Look for the Nureau Ink logo and a tag line that reads "a delegate of Nureau Ink".

"I had to do this. If someone no longer wants to be a delegate, they are free to go. I'm not trying to take nothing over to the promised land with me that ain't with me. It's much better that way. Folks can really trip."

Knowing Tonéx, there's probably a lot more going on than what we see in the Nureau picture. Our recent discussions with delegate Gibraan indicate that there's a movie in the works, for example. And there's also been a buzz about Tonéx's collaboration with mainstream siren Shanice Wilson. He confesses:

"Anyone who really knows me knows how much I love Janet Jackson's artistry, in many ways more than Michael's even. But before I was a Rhythm Nation junkie, I was totally obsessed with Shanice Wilson."

"She was 14 when I first heard her album Discovery. I knew her voice backwards and forwards. I even started a fan club at school. People were so tired about hearing me talk about Shanice Wilson this and Shanice Wilson that. But I didn't care."

"I still think she can out sing all them pop princesses and R&B divas. People just don't understand how prolific of a singer, songwriter and dancer she is."

O2

Like a breath of fresh air, O2 delivers an ever-intriguing mixture of styles and influences, a blend of the peaceful and the hyper, and choice guest spots from Nureau Ink delegates.... See full album review.

"Anyway, I finally got the chance to meet her in 1999, while I was performing at Bishop Noel Jones' Church (Greater Bethany) in Los Angeles. At that time she had just gotten engaged to Flex . Well, we ended up becoming really good friends. They are like the only celebrity couple me and my wife hang with. They really are so special to us."

"Well, of course I still have to shake myself like, 'is this a dream?' I 'm a personal close friend of Shanice now and its like WHAT?"

"Flex was doing this show on UPN called "One on One." It was a pilot at first, but the show couldn't seem to get arrested. Well, through all of our prayers, it did. Once he got the show he asked me to do the theme song. Flex told me that he KNEW I was the one for the job. That whole ordeal was a faith move for me because the network already had big names in line to do the theme song. After long drawn-out negotiations back and forth, I got the job. That's what you hear on the show every Monday night on UPN at 8:30 pm."

"Not only did I get the job, I got to sing a duet with Shanice. It was like a dream come true for me. We were at Paramount Studios and she was due with her baby at any moment. As a matter of fact she ended up going into labor the very next day and had a beautiful baby girl named Imani. I think she looks a little like them both."

"After that Shanice asked me to be a producer on her next album because of how well our chemistry was in the studio. You know I was ready to run through a tree then!" (laughing)

And as if this isn't enough, there's also another artist that Tonéx has taken under his wing, so to speak.

Insider Interview with Tonéx

"Pet peeve? When girls wear those clunky clog shoes in the airport. They make those loud clanky-clanky, clanky-clank sounds on the floor..." See Insider Interview with Tonéx.

"Yeah, there is one artist that I did not mention. Her name is Lyn'Z (like Lindsay ). This white girl is going to blow folks away. All I can say is look out 'cause her joint is hot. And not just because I worked on it. It's just hot. Period. You'll be hearing from her very soon."

Tonéx also raves about Nureau delegates Brotha Los and C.Note, with both due for projects in the near future. And of course, his wife, Yvette Williams, aka Ms. Tonéx.

"The Ms. Tonéx Album is heavy now in the pre-production stages. All I can say is, this record will live up to the hype surrounding it. Period. Everyone keeps asking about her record but hey have to be patient. She's not trippin' and neither am I. We know when it drops it will be the pefect time. We're not just gonna put something out just to say it's out you know what I mean?"

And as for the movie? That's also true.

"Yes, I have been working on that. I also did a film short which is the predecessor to the feature length motion picture I have in the works. I'm working with a very talented screen writer and director named Booker T. Mattison. He doesn't want me speaking too much about the film being that we don't want anything to leak. We are still in the infant stages for the feature length motion picture. Most of the soundtrack is already done."

Another difference for Tonéx is that he is under new management. He recently hooked up with Mahogany Entertainment under the direction of Shiba Haley, known for her long time management of Yolanda Adams and recently Virtue.

"Working with Mahogany has been the most wonderful blessing for me. It was prophesied by this preacher name Awesome Dawson that I was going to be working with Yolanda Adams in some kind of way, and that once I did, that my career was going to really take off! He said he saw money all around me through this connection with Yolanda."

"Less then two weeks later I ended up getting a call back that I had put into Yolanda a while back but she was on the road. Yolanda said hello and I told her what this preacher had said and that I was a free agent and in need of management."

"I was ready for the next phase of my career and I knew that Mahogany's professionalism was unrivaled. Yo Yo said "Hold on, I'm gonna get Shiba on the line." Well, I told Shiba the same story and she said "I wanted to work with you 3 years ago when I first saw you perform on the Stellars. I knew you had it then. But I knew if it was meant to be it would happen naturally."

"Two weeks later I was signed as the first and only male on Mahogany's management roster. Virtue is also under the same management, and truthfully, we are all one big happy family. I know it's sounds corny, but it's true. I am so happy. A new album, a new manager, new look, a new everything. C'mon Patti sang that thang!"