T-Bone (rapper)

T-Bone
Birth name Rene Francisco Sotomayor
Also known as Boney Bone Corleone, Bone Soprano, T
Born (1973-08-11) August 11, 1973
San Francisco, California, US
Genres Christian hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper
Instruments Rapping, Beatboxing
Years active 1989 – present
Labels Metro One, Flicker/Boneyard Records, Sony Provident
Website www.houseoftbone.com

Rene Francisco Sotomayor, better known by the stage name T-Bone, is a conscious/inspirational Christian rapper. His father is Nicaraguan and his mother is Salvadoran.[1] His name came from being called 'Bones' as a youngster because he was very skinny. The 'T' was "added to give the name a little slang edge."

Music career

According to published interview, he started rapping at the age of seven at parties and in rap battles. He was close to getting a gangsta rap record but, after changing his life, he opened for a noted rock group at that time which led him to getting signed to his first inspirational record deal that very night.[2]

His first three albums: Redeemed Hoodlum in 1991, Tha Life of a Hoodlum in 1993 and Tha Hoodlum's Testimony in 1995 were released on the independent Metro One record label. All three albums were characterized by being gangsta rap albums, which was rare in the inspirational music scene at the time.

In 1997, he released History of a Hoodlum, a three-disc compilation set of the hits from his first three albums released on the Diamante record label.

After a brief hiatus, T-Bone released his fourth album, and first on the Flicker Records music label, Tha Last Street Preacha, in 2000, to critical acclaim. Tha Last Street Preacha was nominated for the Rock Gospel Album Grammy Award.[3] and saw T-Bone break into the Christian Contemporary Music market. It was the first rap album to debut at No. 7 on the Christian Contemporary Music charts.

2002 saw an increased exposure of T-Bone to both Christian and mainstream markets with the release of his fifth album, titled Gospelalphamegafunkyboogiediscomusic. The album was characterised by the guest appearance of hip-hop legend KRS-One on the title track - returning the favour of the controversial guest spot T-Bone had made on KRS-One's Spiritual Minded album earlier in the year.[4]

2005 saw the release of his most controversial, and successful, album to date: Bone-A-Fide. Bone-A-Fide's album cover controversially featured T-Bone in an image evoking Che Guevara, leading to concerns that he was promoting communist ideologies—charges he denied.[5] Adding to the controversy were collaborations with two major secular rappers: Mack 10 and Chino XL.

Bone-A-Fide was his first album not to be produced by long-time collaborator Chase Dante and, perhaps deliberately, saw T-Bone move away from the previous West Coast sound of his earlier albums to a smoother, more East Coast sound.[6] Also, in 2005, he was featured as Jairus in the rock opera !Hero, along with Michael Tait of Tait and dc Talk, Rebecca St. James, and Mark Stuart of Audio Adrenaline.

Bone-Appetit!, a greatest hits album titled, was released on September 25, 2007.[7]

Other works

Film career

T-Bone stars in the film "The Rally" co-starring Kenneth Copeland. It was out in late 2009-2010.

T-Bone's first major film role was in 2003, playing the role of Briggs, a rapping prisoner in the comedy-romance motion picture The Fighting Temptations, which starred Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Beyoncé Knowles. In the film, T-Bone performs the song "To Da River" with secular artists Lil' Zane and Montell Jordan.

T-Bone also co-starred in the 2004 Paramount/MTV film All You've Got which starred Ciara and Adrienne Bailon of The Cheetah Girls.

His other movies include Carman and Stephen Yake's "R.I.O.T." and starred in "Black Rose" in 2003.

He appeared in the 2013 film I'm in Love with a Church Girl.

TV shows

Works

Albums

Year Title Record label Producer
1993 Redeemed Hoodlum Metro One LA Posse
1995 Tha Life of a Hoodlum Metro One LA Posse
1997 Tha Hoodlum's Testimony Metro One LA Posse
1999 History of a Hoodlum Metro One LA Posse
2001 Tha Last Street Preacha Flicker/Boneyard T-BONE
2001 The Boneyard Box Set
(Compilation album)		 Metro One LA Posse
2002 Gospelalphamegafunkyboogiediscomusic Flicker/Boneyard T-BONE
2005 Bone-A-Fide Flicker/Boneyard/Provident/Sony/BMG T-BONE
2007 Bone Appétit: Servin' Up tha Hits
(Compilation album)		 Boneyard/Provident-Integrity Distribution T-BONE

Collaborative works

Music videos

Films

Other

Awards and nominations

Grammy Nominations

Visionary Award Nominations

Dove Awards

2008
  • Winner of Rap/Hip-Hop Song of the Year "Name-Droppin"
2004
  • Winner of special event album (!Hero, a rock opera)
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip-Hop Album (Gospelalphamegafunkyboogiediscomusic)
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song (Raised in Harlem from !Hero)
2002
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip-Hop Album, (Tha Last Street Preacha)
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song (Ride Wit Me)
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded (King of My Life)
1997
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip Hop Album (Tha Hoodlums Testimony)
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song (Keep on Praising)
1995
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip-Hop Album (Tha Life of A Hoodlum)
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip-Hop Recorded Song” (Throwing Out Tha Wicked)
1993
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip Hop Album (Redeemed Hoodlum)
  • Nomination for Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song (Lyrical Assassin)

Collaborations

Songs

Soundtrack

Producers

Additional highlights

References

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