Hip-Hop, Rap Interviews : Tony Touch

Tony Touch is a Hip-Hop icon; a Brooklyn mixtape king from the 90's and a member of the legendary Rock Steady Crew - either recognize or act like you know. Tony Touch is best known for dropping some of the hottest mixtapes ever recorded in the genre of Hip-Hop, not to mention his bi-lingual mic game. If you know Hip-Hop then you've likely heard of the 50 MCs mixtape series as well as the 5 Deadly Venoms of Brooklyn. If you haven't and you're reading this, do yourself a favor, go to www.TonyTouch.com and make sure you cop those joints for your own sake. People need to be aware of Hip-Hop's rich history and Tony Touch has made more history than most.

In 2005 Tony Toca continues to do two of the things he does best, put together fly compilations and rep for his Latin heritage. Tony's new compilation LP The ReggaeTony Album is a mixture of Hip-Hop, reggaetón and salsa and features over 40 artists including The Beatnuts, Zion and Lenox, NORE, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Thirstin Howl III, Ivy Queen, Nina Sky, Soni, Tego Calderon and many more. Tony's history in the reggaetón movement can be traced back to its roots. In 1996 along with Nico Canada and Manolo, Tony Touch produced Guatauba, one of the most credible reggaetón albums to date. The Guatauba LP paired top artists from Puerto Rico with established Hip-Hop artists from the U.S. and reggae artists from Jamaica. Recently Tony has taken an active role in bringing reggaetón to a wider audience; with its unique lineup The ReggaeTony Album will undoubtedly elevate the reggaetón genre and bring more attention to an already escalating movement. Recently we had a chance to catch up with the man himself and see what's up for real.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Over the years you have always given back to Hip-Hop's Latino community by collaborating with Latin MCs and featuring many Hispanic rappers on your albums and mixtapes; how much have you seen the Latino influence in Hip-Hop grow and change since you first got in the game? Fat Joe once said that when he first started rapping people would look at him like he had three heads since he wasn't black; how has that type of outlook changed over the years?

TONY TOUCH: It's changed considerably man. The Hispanic community is not a majority here in the US but the numbers have grown over the years so now we are not looked upon as being so alien. I mean, again; there is so much more work to still do - but with the reggaetón becoming as popular as it is, it's like we have our own thing now. It's a movement and it's uniting the whole Hispanic community - Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, everybody is connecting and relating to this music. Before Mexicans had their music, Boricuas had salsa, Dominicans had meringue - but now [reggaetón] is bringing us all together and it's a movement that is still building.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Your new CD The ReggaeTony Album is a mixture of Hip-Hop, reggaetón and salsa; how did the concept for this album come about?

TONY TOUCH: I approached it the way I usually approach all albums which is a lot of action, a lot of activity, a lot of artists, a lot of beats, a lot of concepts - it's organized confusion, you know what I mean. [The album] got over 40 artists on it; this is my niche, putting together these sort of albums whether it be mixed CDs, 50 MCs mixtapes or Piece Maker albums, I basically have kept the same formula. I was able to incorporate my whole lifestyle into [The ReggaeTony Album] - which is basically just nuyorican soul.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Being one of the most legendary mixtape DJs to ever do it, how have you seen the mixtape game change and evolve over the years? It seems like right now there are more mixtapes out than ever before - but is the quality still there in your opinion?

TONY TOUCH: Everything is the internet right now so you've got all the internet DJs that are just slapping tapes together song for song, so I think we are losing a bit of the DJ essence and culture. When it comes to mixing you still have DJ competitions and turntablism is still popular, but turtablism on mixed CDs is obsolete man. Everything now is about who got the hot shit first, everything is online. Mom and pop stores and retail is becoming extinct as well.

So even though a lot of major corporations are using mixtapes and also record labels and artists are still using [mixtapes] as an outlet to promote the music and product, I think the [mixtape game] is in disarray right now. There's not really no record stores bangin' it and everything is [for the most part] online. The market has changed with everybody dubbing CDs now. I still do it because it's a great promotional outlet for me when I go to my events, I give CDs out and stuff, but there's not real revenue in that anymore or anything like that.

RIOTSOUND.COM: For those who may not know can you talk about the 5 Deadly Venoms of Brooklyn mixtape; what was that project all about?

TONY TOUCH: 5 Deadly Venoms of Brooklyn was a mixed CD I put out in '97 which basically adapted the formula of the movie Five Deadly Venoms. I gave it a twist [and called it] 5 Deadly Venoms of Brooklyn and I incorporated all the tape kings from Brooklyn - Mr. Cee, DJ Premier, PF Cuttin, Evil Dee and myself; we all did about twenty minutes each and put out a double CD like that. It was basically one of the most official - one of my favorite CDs that I have ever worked on as far as a street mixtape.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Hip-Hop today seems like it's becoming specialized and fragmented; you yourself started out as a b-boy and then pursued DJing and even MCing; today most people only try to do one thing instead of trying to learn the whole culture. Do you feel like that has a negative impact in any way?

TONY TOUCH: Not everybody can [do more than one thing], some people find their niche and they stick to it and they master it and pursue that. I don't knock it. Back in the days - yea, there was more versatility; you had more people doing different things. There was not really a title for it - I had a conversation with JuJu from The Beatnuts about it; he said that back in the days nobody asked you if you rapped or if you were a graffiti writer or if you were a b-boy, you could just tell by the way a person dressed man. Basically the term that we used to use was 'rock' - like 'yea I rock' or 'yea we rock', know what I mean. Like Rock Steady - that's how Rock Steady came about, from the term rocking.

When you was rocking you was doing everything, graffiti, b-boying, DJing, MCing. Back then we just called it rocking and you could tell by one's demeanor and the way they dressed whether or not they rocked. Times have changed now, people are probably more caught up in trying to blow up as rappers and everything is more focused on rappers than it is the culture.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Last year you were a part of the Rock Steady Crew 27th Anniversary free concert in Newark; will you be taking part in the festivities again this year?

TONY TOUCH: Yea, absolutely. I believe if I am not mistaken it is in the same place this year, which is in Newark.

Editor's Note: Please stay tuned to www.RockSteadyCrew.com for complete info on the Rock Steady Crew's 28th Anniversary weekend July 28th - 31st. Each year the Rock Steady Crew puts together a slew of special events as well as a free outdoor concert to commemorate the crew's history as well as to honor the legacy of crew members who have passed on.

See pics from the Rock Steady Crew 27th Anniversary jam with Tony Touch, The Beatnuts, Masta Ace & more.

See pics from the Rock Steady Crew 26th Anniversary jam with Freddie Foxxx, Black Moon, Masta Killa & Non Phixion.

RIOTSOUND.COM: What artists have you been feeling recently?

TONY TOUCH: You know everything coming out of that G-Unit camp is kind of ridiculous, they've kinda got it on lock right now. Also some underground heads that are coming up, this kid Papoose in New York, he's making a lot of noise; also my man Saigon.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Who would you say are your favorite Latin MCs of all of time are?

TONY TOUCH: B Real, Pig Pun, The Beatnuts, of course Fat Joe, Thirstin Howl III, Hurricane G, Doo Wop, just to name a few.

RIOTSOUND.COM: Aside from The ReggaeTony Album that's dropping on June 28th, what other projects do you have on the horizon that everyone should be looking out for?

TONY TOUCH: I am working on a Diaz Brothers album with Doo Wop; also working on an album with a female recording artist named Soni. Working with Hurricane G and, you know, more reggaetón. I am working on some house music right now too.

RIOTSOUND.COM: What kind of house music will you be producing?

TONY TOUCH: Mostly deep house and soulful house. Like Little Louie Vega, Masters at Work, Kenny Dope. I am kind of affiliated with those guys as well - I am usually involved with stuff they do; it's kind of like my peoples, my crew right there - so it will be music along that vein. Todd Terry, Little Louie Vega, [stuff like that].

RIOTSOUND.COM: Are we going to see another Piece Maker album anytime soon?

TONY TOUCH: No, I think I am going to focus my attention on artist driven projects rather than compilations. ReggaeTony will probably be my last compilation for a minute and I am going to focus more on working [with artists] for right now.

For all info and news on Tony Touch stay tuned to www.TonyTouch.com