West Coast Producer Tone Capone, Has Passed Away at 59

[WARLORD9]

Tone Capone, a prolific producer who brought the mobb music style of Bay Area hip-hop to the world with the smash hit "I Got 5 On It," died on Saturday. He was 59.

 

Capone's death was reported online Sunday by close family. A cause of death was not immediately known. Capone had been living in the Las Vegas area since 2021.

 

Along with the Luniz' "I Got 5 on It," Capone produced many regional hip-hop classics that remain in regular rotation. Those include 3xKrazy's "Keep It on the Real," Mac Dre's "Fire" and "Not My Job," Celly Cel's "It's Goin' Down," Devin the Dude's "Sticky Green" and E-40's "Ring It."

 

Across his career, Capone produced or worked with others constituting a who's-who of Bay Area rap, including the Jacka, Dru Down, The Click, Conscious Daughters, Mac Mall, Messy Marv, Andre Nickatina, Spice 1, San Quinn and many more.

 

 

As a beatmaker steeped in the funk and soul of the 1970s, Capone's rap production emphasized the the first downbeat of each measure, accompanied by exaggerated bass tones and live instruments. Along with his charting hits, his sound found receptive ears in Houston, Texas, where he worked with rapper Scarface, Devin the Dude and others.

 

Capone was born Anthony Douglas Gilmour in Berkeley, and was raised in North Oakland, near Bushrod Park. His house was filled with the music of the era: Earth Wind & Fire, the Crusaders, Parliament, Kool & the Gang, Curtis Mayfield, Donald Byrd.

 

While attending Berkeley High School, he learned how to DJ using a friend's turntables. Before long, he began DJing at events — parties at fraternity houses, or at the Lake Merritt boathouse — with friend Nick Peace, who would become a prolific hip-hop producer himself.

 

 

In the mid-1980s, after high school, Capone began making beats with the technology of the time: four-track cassette recorders, drum machines, turntables and tape decks. Shortly after buying his first Technics 1200 turntable, he committed himself to making music instead of hustling. While Bay Area rap had been famously independent, some of Capone's earliest work was commissioned by major labels for the Oakland group Capital Tax and R&B trio SWV.

 

In 1993, fate intervened. Capone reconnected with a friend from Berkeley High, Mike Marshall, who'd had a hit song with "Rumors," by his group Timex Social Club. The two were at Capone's house one day when members of the Luniz happened to visit, bringing song ideas.

 

One of the songs, in a rough sketch, was "I Got 5 On It." On the spot, Marshall wrote the melody for the hook, Capone created a beat based on the Club Nouveau song "Why You Treat Me So Bad," and before long, the track was laid down in the studio.

 

 

Released in 1995, "I Got 5 On It" was an immediate hit in the Bay Area, and reached the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Gradually, the song grew to enjoy global recognition, aided by a remix featuring Dru Down, Spice-1, E-40, Shock G, and Richie Rich. In 2019, a slow, brooding remake of Capone's beat was utilized by director Jordan Peele in the horror film Us.

 

After chart success, Capone kept working. Through producing Oakland rapper Seagram, signed to Houston's Rap-a-Lot Records, Capone met the producer Mike Dean, who suggested he join upcoming sessions for the rapper Scarface.

 

 

 

 

The resulting album, 1997's The Untouchable, went platinum, with Capone's production work throughout. Tracks included the Rick James flip "Mary Jane," and "Smile," a major hit featuring one of the last verses recorded by Tupac Shakur. (In his memoir Diary of a Madman, Scarface names Capone in a list of the all-time best producers, alongside Dr. Dre, Pharrell and Timbaland.)

 

Capone also connected with Mac Dre in the late 1990s, going on to produce the Ohio Players-inspired single "Fire," the street classic "Not My Job," the track "Genie of the Lamp" and others before Mac Dre's death in 2004.

 

In the 21st century, Capone stayed active among a respected cohort of artists, pushing himself to try new tempos and styles. Before his death, he had recently worked with the Punjabi rapper Kanwar. He also took a day job, working at a hospital, before retiring.

 

At press time, no services have been announced.


https://www.kqed.org/arts/13993851/tone-capone-dies-producer-bay-area-i-got-5-on-it-hip-hop

[OG Snoopaveli]

Damn... R.I.P.

[doggfather]

damn rip

[WCThang]

RIP to an absolute legend.