3 minute read
Tonee Marino
T ON EE MA R I N O
A. Thank you, I am a 16-year-old rapper/singer/songwriter/producer from Long Island New York.
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Q. What made you want to be in the music industry and how was your experience working with Zay Hilfiger?
A. My passion for music and my interest in creating music was what made me want to turn it into a career. My experience with Zay was dope, because he’s easy to work with, responsible, hardworking, a great artist, as well as a humble person. I’d definitely work with him on more music in the future!
Q. Tell us about “The Next Big Thing NYC”?
A. Next Big Thing NYC is a TV show coming soon to Amazon Prime. The show follows the life of me as well as 7 other successful teenage cast members who are all talented in different ways. There is some drama involved as well, so make sure you guys tune in!
Q. What other hobbies do you have?
A. Other than writing songs, I love making beats, playing basketball, working out, spending time with my church group, and supporting kids with illnesses.
Q. I see that you a Rapper what makes your music different than others?
A. Versatility. I sing, rap and I make music for many different genres. I do Rap, Hiphop, Pop, Reggaeton, and even Dancehall. I keep my lyrics clean, while still having the same effect as popular songs that are explicit. I am self made, and I don’t have any assistance from anyone in my creative process.
A. My single “So Sad” is my #1 song on SoundCloud and the streams on it grow every day. I feel like people love the song because a breakup is a relatable topic and it’s emotional, with simple but deep lyrics. My song “Juice” is one of my top songs on Spotify, and the music video also has 1.1 million views on YouTube. Juice is a club-banger type of record, but I still leave messages in my lyrics to inspire people, like getting money for your family & friends and keeping a close circle with them. Any time I perform Juice, the crowd goes crazy, jumping with me and screaming the lyrics.
Q. What is your favorite genre in music and favorite music artist?
A. My favorite artist of all time is Michael Jackson, but from this generation, it would be Drake. My favorite genre would have to be a tie between Rap/Hip Hop and R&B.
Q. What is one of your greatest accomplishments?
A. One of my greatest accomplishments personally was putting out my first song fully produced by me, written by me, and co-engineered by me as well, called “Lady’s Man.” I’ve been writing my lyrics, but it felt amazing to write to a beat that I made myself, and I’m continuing that with other songs
such as my last release “Jefe.” The fans love those songs, so I’m going to continue giving them what they want!
Q. What is one challenge you have being in the music industry?
A. The biggest challenge I face is getting my music out to the people and promoting without the support of a label. Even with the ease of uploading music to different platforms, there are hundreds of thousands of songs being uploaded to the internet every day, so it can be difficult to stand out. A new challenge I’m facing right now is the coronavirus. People don’t realize how important performing in public and doing shows really is. Social media is a great way to boost your career, but I personally think that doing live shows is the best way for selfpromotion because you get to really connect with people.
Q. Where can your fans follow you and what other projects are you working on?
A. Fans can follow me on all social media, YouTube, or any streaming service like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, SoundCloud etc. @ toneemarino. I’m working on shooting two music videos, one for my song “Jefe” and one for my song “Oh Wow” ft. Zay Hilfiger. Also, I’ll be continuing to drop a new single every single month of 2020, so stay tuned for new music and content coming soon!
