Beginning in the late '80s and spanning into the mid-'90s, Oakland, California-based act Tony Toni Tone (composed of brothers D'Wayne Wiggins, Raphael Saadiq, and cousin Timothy Christian Riley) was responsible for making New Jack Swing party anthems like "It Feels Good!" while also putting it down for timeless baby-making slow jams, such as "It Never Rains (In Southern California)," "Whatever You Want," and one of their most famous (and epic) ballads, 1993's "Anniversary." But by 1997, the group had all but broken up.
Since then, D'Wayne has been responsible for helping to groom Destiny's Child and the currently "on fire" songstress Keyshia Cole, also an Oakland native. As of late, a new version of Tony Toni Tone has been playing dates on the New Jack Swing Reunion tour, now in its second year. We've tracked down Mr. Wiggins to find out what's next for the Tony Toni Tone story, and if we'll ever see a reunion with all three original members anytime soon.
VIBE: About the current New Jack Swing Tour... what can people expect to see?
D'Wayne: First of all, we're gonna do our music because that's what we love to do. But this is a party. This is a celebration of life. You might as well let your hair down and prepare to get loose. Get a little wet, get a little whatever. It's almost like a Parliament meets Grateful Dead. So expect to just get wild and party.
Is there a new album in the works?
Yes. We have so much catalogued, it's ridiculous. We've done some tracks with Beyonce and Keyshia Cole, and we've even done some with Slick Rick.
Can you talk a little bit about Amar Khalil, your new lead singer?
He's family, he's cool, believe it. One thing about him, he makes me feel like we just came out again 'cause his energy is like, "Let's get these motherfuckers." I love him for that, and Raphael digs him for that too.
A lot of fans would say that Tony Toni Tone is iconic as a unit. Given that statement, if Raphael was in the group and you weren't in it, some might have a hard time accepting that. Now, since that situation is reversed, what do you feel about those who might be having difficulty with the present scenario?
You know, even though Raphael's not there, he's still there. It's hard for me to explain but it's the way we are, the way we grew up in Oakland.
First of all, we're family. And whenever we travelled, we were a unit. We would have our disagreements and all that but we all stayed in one room and laughed all night later on. But when our thing got filtered out between here and LA and here and New York or wherever else, we lost that solid foundation. And when you don't have that, a lot of things go astray. But he's always gonna be a part of Tony Toni Tone, and I will too, and that's just what it is.
Is there a chance that the original three will record another album?
Oh yeah, it'll happen.
On the song, "If I Had No Loot," everybody always refers to that Ice Cube sample, "and you can New Jack Swing on my nuts."What was Tony Toni Tone trying to say with the use of that sample?
New Jack Swing encompassed everybody from that era. That's what it was. And we were a part of it, whether we wanted to call ourselves New Jack Swing or not. But our whole thing was that we always considered ourselves an urban blues group. We played blues. That's our foundation.
Looking back, though, we are part of the whole New Jack vibe because that's the era we emerged from and that's what we delivered musically, and on stage.
I remember when us and Guy used to compete every night on tour to see who could get the craziest onstage. Of course, Aaron [Hall] won, because he would take off all his goddamn clothes. But we were having a good time, and I think we were creating history right there. Teddy [Riley] himself, I learned so much from just being around him and their whole unit. The unity was beautiful, they were coming from New York, we were coming from Oakland and we hit it off.
A lot of fans and critics consider Tony Toni Tone and Mint Condition to be the last of real R&B groups/bands. How does that make you feel?
I try not to pay attention. I'm really thankful to be considered that way, but I just want to stay true to my passion, and let it speak for itself. But I do feel blessed that people look at us that way.
In terms of the albums, which one of the four albums is your favorite?
Each one of them has something special, even the first album. I mean, only me, Tim and Raphael would know how all of these songs came about. They are all stories about Oakland at the end of the day, so it's hard for me to really decide.
But I'll have to say that Sons of Soul would have to be my favorite. That one came together from all over the world, but we ended up spending a beautiful time in Trinidad. And oh my God, it blew us away. That's where "Slow Wine" came from, and that's where a ton of the other songs came from that whole experience. It was a beautiful thing, my man.
One of the most sincere-sounding tracks off the House of Music album was "Party Don't Cry." Was that a song that you had put together?
That is one of my favorites actually. It meant a lot to me. It reflects what I was going through at the time. At the same time everything was great in Trinidad, I partied a little too much. I partied so hard that I got a little sick, and came back in a wheelchair and was down for two months. I think the doctors would say I had a stroke, but at the end of the day I'd just say I was overdoing it.
But that song "Party Don't Cry," that right now is like, my way of living until the end right now. I mean, you cannot celebrate life, and not celebrate death, because it's all one, you know? When you look at what we're doing now and what we've achieved, I know as a youngster I would always talk about I wanna do this, I wanna do that. But now I just stop and look at all the things and all the places I've been able to travel and see and experience, and I'm like, hey man, I'm blessed... I'm having the time of my life past 35 years old and I'm out here doin' it. So when I go, we better throw a big ass party, believe it.
Will we be seeing any more D'Wayne Wiggins solo projects?
You definitely will see more D'Wayne Wiggins solo projects because I have something to say. That album (2000's Eyes Never Lie) wasn't even intended to be an album. At the time, I had been disconnected from what was really going on in the street, but I do recall being 16 years old, being choked up by police officers or knocked down by police officers. I'd go back home with my mom and she would never know what went on. But when it happened to me again (in the late '90s), I'm like, "I'm a grown ass man, with this that and the other, and this officer put hands on me."
That's when I thought about the other people who didn't have a voice so I felt like I had to say something. And when I really started thinking about it, I had to say something.
Through the blessing of Mr. Kedar Massenburg, he heard the song ("Strange Fruit"), and some other tracks that I'd sent in, he was like, 'Hey man can I do an album on you?' I'm like, "Okay." And he put it out, and I travelled with my partners and my people and we had a damn ball - we took Oakland on the road.
But for sure I'm doing another album. That's not to say I wanna do another album because I want to be on the radio, I mean I dig radio and I love a lot of the music on it, but I like jammin'. So I wanna do an album so that I can jam.
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