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Tony A. Da Wizard

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TONY A. DA WIZARD
Born
Antonio Alvarez

1968 (age 55–56)
Torrance, California
Other namesTT Wizard, Tony A., Tony A. The Wizard, DJ Tony A., DJ Tony A. The Wizard, DJ Tony A. Da Wizard, Tony Vision
Occupation(s)DJ, Record Producer, Film Director
Known forThe Roadium Mixtapes, Hi-C Featuring Tony A., Lawless, The Roadium Mixtape Documixery
Websitedocumixery.com

Tony Alvarez, known as DJ Tony A. Da Wizard (also known TT Wizard snf DJ Tony A.) is an American DJ, music producer and film director.

He is best known for creating The Roadium Mixtapes with Dr. Dre and Steve Yano at the Roadium Swap Meet in Gardena, California.[1] He also produced and DJed for the rapper Hi-C featuring Tony A.[2] on the album titled Skanless.

Biography and Early Beginnings

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Tony A. was born in Torrance, California.

At the age of 11, in 1979, Tony first saw what a DJ was when he went with his brother to Noah's Ark[3] in Long Beach. From that day forward he wanted to become a DJ. Shortly after he began working for Steve and Susan Yano at the Vermont Swap Meet in Gardena, California selling vinyl records and cassettes. He first started DJing at his Junior High School noon dances and then went on to DJ house parties, birthday parties and quinceañera's.

In 1987, Tony A. was featured on his first vinyl record single titled "You Better Think" by rapper Dazzie Dee, Produced by Sir Jinx on Thin-Lyne Records, the record label of the World-famous VIP in Long Beach, California. Allegedly, in 1988, Tony A. won 1st place at Battle of The DJs at Samerika Hall in Carson, California.

Collaborations

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Tony A. has worked with many artists in the film and music industries including The Hughes Brothers, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, MC Ren, DJ Quik, Young MC, Tone Loc, JJ Fad, Sir Jinx (Lench Mob), Hi-C, 2nd II None, AMG, B-Real (Cypress Hill), Sen Dog (Cypress Hill), Mellow Man Ace, Teena Marie, Krazy Dee (N.W.A.), Lawless, Lil Rob, Kid Frost, Foesum, Slow Pain (G'Fellas), Nino Brown (G'Fellas), Dazzie Dee and more.[4] Tony A. and Hi-C were the first rap group signed to Hollywood Records.

Roadium (Early 1980s)

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See also: Indoor swap meet § Connection_with_gangsta_rap

In the early 1980s, Steve Yano[5] employed Dr. Dre of the World Class Wreckin' Cru to create mixtapes for him to sell at his booth at the Roadium Swap Meet.[6] Mr. Yano was himself a mixtapes creator and a musician, and thus he inspired Tony A. to keep creating mixtapes.

Dr. Dre created the mixes and some of the rappers featured on them were MC Ren, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Krazy Dee (N.W.A.), Sir Jinx, Dazzie Dee and more. In 1987, while Dr. Dre was producing various artists on Ruthless Records, he asked Tony A. if he wanted to take over doing the mixtapes for Steve. Soon after, Tony A. began creating the mixtapes. His first mixtape that was released was titled "Breakdown". In 1991, Tony A. released his final mixtape titled "Bullshit[7]" which featured Hi-C, DJ Quik, 2nd II None and AMG. During his mixtape career, he created 30+ mixtapes.[8]

Hi-C Featuring Tony A. (Late 1980s - Early 1990s)

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In 1989, Tony A. created and produced his very first song titled "I'm Not Your Puppet" on the mixtape titled Hi-C which featured the Compton, California Rapper Hi-C, who worked at the Roadium Swap Meet. After the success of the Hi-C mixtape, Tony A. created and produced "Sitting In The Park" on the mixtape titled Skanlist, which also featured Hi-C. These mixtapes led Hollywood Records in 1990 to approach Steve Yano with interest in signing the duo. After they signed, Steve Yano established his own label called "Skanless Records". They began recording their debut album titled Hi-C Featuring Tony A. at Audio Achievements in Torrance, California. There they recorded half of their album and eventually finished at Skanless Studios in Alhambra, California. This album was released December 10, 1991. The album peaked at 152 on the Billboard 200,[9][10] at number 21 on the Hot Rap Songs for the song titled "Sitting In The Park",[11] at number 53 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums,[12] at number 3 on the Heatseekers Albums for 24 weeks.[13] In 1993, Tony A. (given credit as Tony Alvarez) produced half [14] of the Hi-C album titled Swing'n.

The Roadium Mixtape Documixery (2017-2019)

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In May 2017, Tony A. directed [15] the Roadium Mixtape Documixery. It was a docu-series shedding light on a collection of mixtapes created by Dr Dre of the World Class Wreckin' Cru, then Tony A. started creating 4 track mixtapes, which became very popular in the LA. The aim of the series was to show a history of hip hop development and spread in the 1990s in Los Angeles. The docu-series also was a tribute to Steve Yano, a musician and mixtape creator, who passed away in 2014.[16] He was the man who first inspired Tony A. to create and distribute his mixtapes.

The documixery was a collaboration with John Elkins (JE Visual Studios), Daniel "DG" Jones (DG Media Clips), Carey Fujita (South Bay Drones), Roger "Lyve" Mera (RL Productions), Boomer Didit (The Remedy Yard) and Wiz1 (Blak Forest). The cast also included Tony A. himself, Warren G, Mister Cartoon, Violet Brown, 2nd II None, AMG, Hi-C, DJ Speed (N.W.A). American hip hop producer Sir Jinx, and football star Kelvin Anderson (VIP Records) also took part. The docu-series also included Ernie G (Proper Dos/Skanless Records), Big Citric (Brown Town Looters/George Lopez Show), DJ Jam, Alonso "Lonzo" Williams (World Class Wreckin' Cru), Cli-N-Tel (World Class Wreckin' Cru), Kid Frost, Mellow Man Ace, DJ Rhettmatic (The World-famous Beat Junkies), Break Beat Lou (Ultimate Breaks & Beats), DJ Thoro, DJ Money B, Greedy Greg and Arabian Prince (N.W.A).

Production[17] of The Roadium Mixtape Documixery was started in 2017 and was quickly completed in December 2018. The series was set to release in 2019 but was allegedly postponed to 2020. The trailer was released in 2020 and is still available on Youtube The director's cut version is available on Youtube.[18]

Present day

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Tony A. is currently focused on directing films (Tony Vision) while DJing and producing music. He established Tony Vision (a Youtube Channel), in 2019, and since then he has been a Youtube podcast host at Roadium Radio.[19][20]

New Roadium Radio Episodes stream twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays at 7pm, PST.

Charts

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US charts for the Hip-Hop and R&B mixtapes created by Tony A. in 1992
Chart (1992) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[21] 152
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[22] 53
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[23] 3

References

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  1. ^ "The Roadium Swap Meet: Birthplace of N.W.A." National Trust For Historic Preservation. David Weible. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  2. ^ "HI-C – Skanless".
  3. ^ ""Noah's Ark"".
  4. ^ "Tony A Shares Skanless Stories With Hi-C & Disney". uniqueaccessent.com. Victoria Hernandez. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  5. ^ "Steve Yano".
  6. ^ "Calling Dr. Dre to Surgery: The Roadium Swapmeet Mixtapes". passionweiss.com. JEFF WEISS. 12 August 2015.
  7. ^ "Tony A.* – Bullshit".
  8. ^ "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics". Los Angeles Times. 14 April 2002. Retrieved April 14, 2002.
  9. ^ "Billboard 200". billboard.com. Billboard.[dead link]
  10. ^ "Billboard - Hi-C Featuring Tony A." billboard.com. Billboard.
  11. ^ "Billboard - Hot Rap Songs". billboard.com. Billboard. Archived from the original on May 18, 2018.
  12. ^ "Billboard - Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". billboard.com. Billboard.[dead link]
  13. ^ "Billboard - Heatseekers Albums". billboard.com. Billboard. Archived from the original on May 18, 2018.
  14. ^ "Hi-C – Swing'n".
  15. ^ "IMDB - The Roadium Mixtape Documixery".
  16. ^ "Steven Gregory Yano | 1952 - 2014 | Obituary".
  17. ^ "Documenting a Landmark of L.A. Hip Hop History: The Roadium Mixtape Documixery".
  18. ^ "TONY VISION PRESENTS - THE ROADIUM MIXTAPE DOCUMIXERY - DIRECTOR'S CUT".
  19. ^ "Tony Vision".
  20. ^ "Tony Vision Presents Roadium Radio".
  21. ^ "Hi-C Featuring Tony A Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  22. ^ "Hi-C Featuring Tony A Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard.
  23. ^ "Hi-C Featuring Tony A Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard.
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