Tone Loc

Tone Lōc is an American rapper and actor born Anthony Terrell Smith on March 3, 1966. He was born to Margaret Smith, who was the manager of a retirement home and James Smith. Smith left gang life in order to focus on his career in music. He became a rapper and was known for his deep throaty voice. The first album he released was called Lōc-ed After Dark which was released on January 23, 1989. It  reached No. 1 on the US charts, No. 3 on the US R&B charts, and also gained prominence on international charts such as No. 21 on the UK singles chart as well as reaching top spots in Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland. It was eventually certified 2X Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The best selling song on this album was “Wild Thing” which was written by the rapper Young MC. The song was produced by Mario Caldato, Jr. who stated that the phrase was inspired by a dialogue from Spike Lee’s 1986 film She’s Gotta Have It. The song reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also inspired a parody by “Weird Al” Yankovic, called “Isle Thing” which was based on the American sitcom Gilligan’s Island. Another prominent hit from the album is “Funky Cold Medina” which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and sold over one million copies. Another one of his songs “Ace Is In The House” is featured in the 1994 film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and its sequel Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective (2009). His most recent work has lent his music talent and voice to the cast of A Proud Family: Louder and Prouder as the lead characters singing voice for an episode.