Tonedeff returns for 2009 with “The Distance” produced by Kno and taken from CunninLynguists Strange Journey Volume One which is NOW AVAILABLE @ Amazon, iTunes & More. [BUY NOW]

This intensely personal song deals with the sense of disconnection from one’s self over time – a point demonstrated by Tone’s use of third-person perspective until switching to first-person at the last moment to draw himself back in. While “The Distance” is not connected in any way to the duo’s forthcoming Chico And The Man album, it is certainly a good indication of what’s to come and a welcome meal to tides us over.

BUY STRANGE JOURNEY VOLUME ONE @:
[iTUNES] | [AMAZON]

Enjoy

P.S. Be sure to comment and rate this song @ HipHopDX.com.

Tonedeff acapellas are a rare commodity on the internets. So, it’s not often that you hear a Tonedeff remix worth it’s salt, let alone one sanctioned by QN5.

This remix of the outrageously catchy “Pervert” from the Archetype album was crafted from scratch with the original acapella by up & coming VA producer/remixer/DJ, NumberNin6.

After hearing Tonedeff & Substantial’s version of “Punk”, NumberNin6 approached the baby-blue kingpin about remixing this song in particular. Needless to say, you can look forward to more collaborations between the two in the coming months.

[DOWNLOAD THE SONG HERE]

Enjoy!

Ps. BUY ARCHETYPE @ [iTUNES] | [UGHH.com] [SandboxAutomatic.com]

QN5 is proud to announce the digital debut of Extended Famm’s 2002 classic, Happy F*ck You Songs wherever digital music is sold.

The idea behind this joint-project by Tonedeff, PackFM, Substantial & Session was simple: make the most innovative crew cuts possible. As a group, there is an undeniable chemistry between them that bursts forth on ground-breaking cuts like “Line Drop”, “Velocity” and the wireless theme song, “Celly”. All the stops are pulled out for tried & true battle-ready anthems like “FYIRB (Remix)”, and “The Evil That Pens Do” as well as classic skits courtesy of their infamous sidekick, Squijee. All of this comes to together as an album that managed to break the conceptual shackles of the ‘The Posse Cut’ and push it new directions at time when Hip Hop was drowning in thuggery.

This record was a landmark national release for QN5 and the reason for much of the early press the label received, including appearances in The Source Magazine, URB, and MTV. Making the occasional appearance on eBay, original pressings of this release go for a grip of cash due to it limited pressing – but now you can show your support directly to the artists!

With an obscenity average of 4.5 CWPM (Curse-Words-Per-Minute), you can’t go wrong!

BUY NOW @ [AMAZON] [ITUNES] [RHAPSODY]

Enjoy!

You know you’re making music that connects with people when you start to see covers of your stuff on YouTube. From Priscilla Renea’s (now defunct) cover of PackFM’s “Lessons” to Lachlan Higgs’ cover of Radiohead’s “Videotape”, seeing different musicians making the effort to re-interpret your songs is always flattering and interesting to watch.

Here, longtime Auralarian, Amplifya, does an abridged instrumental version of “Gathered” from Archetype. Be sure to peep it and drop him a comment @ YouTube.

Including this song on Archetype was a risky move in 2004, when singing on Rap records was still taboo…but since I had always included at least one fully-sung track per release (ie. “Homecoming King”, “Morethanthis” and “Fast”), I knew the Auralarians had my back.

This video is proof positive that the risk was worth it and I’m looking forward to providing more piano fun for everyone in the latter half of the year. Props to Amplifya for posting this vid. Definitely made my day.

Hollerate!
Tone

PS: I’d rather see covers of the sung stuff than the rhyming stuff…just cause…you know. lol

Work for it.

Enjoy!

SHIFTING STANDARD #1: Lyricism

This post was lifted from an IM convo I had this morning:

buddy: Have you heard of _______________?
me: yes. and they’re horrible.
buddy: haha, i agree, but i saw them live, they have an impressive amount of energy
me: So do alot of cats. I mean, my crew is mad energetic on stage and didn’t have to sacrifice rapping ability to do it. Plus, I’m not too keen on all these parody electro/rap groups that have been popping up lately.
buddy: haha, i don’t count you guys in comparisons cause its not fair
me: why not? they wanna rap… they need to be judged as such.
buddy: i wouldn’t really say that they’re rappers… they’re more like electro/techno producers who rap over their stuff
me: .... they rap.
me: I don’t give a fuck if they rhyme over accordians and laser zaps with monkeys on stage…if you rap…you need to be dope. I’m really tired of people making excuses for wack rappers. If you’re gonna use the artform for your own financial gain, you need to respect it enough to be held against its’ standards.
buddy: true true, good point.

Don’t be silent folks.

Hollerate,
Tone

It’s been a tremendous 2008, and once again we turn the page on time and move forward into another collection of memories we’ll deem “2009” in a year. 2008 saw a lot of firsts and accelerated momentum which we’ll truly be able to capitalize on this time around. It’s a constant process, but never a dull one.

I’d like to personally thank everyone for their support of QN5 and wish all of you the best in the coming year. Y’all are the best fans in the world and it’s a blessing to have an audience like you. We remain deadset on giving you the best entertainment of any indie label out there.

The crew has a SLEW of craziness in store for you and I can say with certainty that 2009 will be a great time to be a true Blue Schooler.

Just a SAMPLING of what you should be looking forward to in 2009:
CunninLynguists – Strange Journey Vol.1
PackFM & Domingo – I F*cking Hate Rappers
Substantial & Burns – Substantial/Burns [EP]
Mr. SOS – Dr. Strangelove*
Tonedeff & Kno – Chico & The Man [Fucking Finally]
...and MANY MANY MANY shows and surprise releases.

I’m hella amped, cause we’re about to bump shit up 5 notches.
So, stay connected with us via QN5.com, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr and we’ll do the rest.

Happy New Year & Hollerations For All!
Tone

A brand-new interview with Tonedeff has just been published at hip-hop news site, SixShot.com. Here, writer Jon Michael asks Tone various questions ranging from the early days of QN5 to the balancing act of visual art & music. There’s even talk of the Micro Machines man! This certainly makes for an entertaining read.

[READ THE INTERVIEW]

Enjoy!

Ok, so you’re 100% Web 2.0’d out. You update a facebook page, a myspace page, a blog, a flickr photo blog, an IM status message, send text messages. If you’re Tonedeff, the next logical step would be to keep the world updated on daily minutia that fuels the gears in his head via his official Twitter blog.

So, if you’d like to keep LITERALLY up-to-the-minute sub-updates on the best flow in the game, upcoming projects and the inner workings of creative OCD, sign up to follow Tonedeff’s tweets on Twitter.com.

[FIND TONEDEFF ON TWITTER]

Twitter.com/tonedeff

Enjoy!

AllHipHop.com has a poll running for the best “Love Lockdown” remix. Included in the list is Royce Da 5’9”, Jin, Trey Songz, Mysto & Pizzi along with Tonedeff’s “Warden” rendition.

Make Sure Your Voice Is Heard:

Be sure to check out the article on AllHipHop.com and vote for Tonedeff.

[VOTE FOR TONEDEFF HERE]

Enjoy!