The Twilite Tone

Anthony Christopher Khan (né Craig; born July 13, 1971), known by his stage name The Twilite Tone, is an American record producer, recording artist, composer, DJ, and radio host.[1][2][3] Among others, he has worked with Gorillaz, Kanye West, Common, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, Big Sean, Judith Hill, and John Legend.

The Twilite Tone
Birth name	Anthony Christopher Craig
Also known as	• The Twilite Tone • Anthony Khan • Ynot the Best • Master Ynot NeverTheLess • Master Khan • Great Weekend • Two, Two(2!2!) • Dusable of GO ILL • The Founder of GO ILL
Born	(1971-07-13) July 13, 1971 Chicago
Genres	Electronic, house, hip hop, R&B, soul
Occupation(s)	Record producer, recording artist, songwriter, DJ, musician
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Rush Hour Recordings, UNO NYC, Throne of Blood, Wurst Music Company, Do-Over, Brownswood, GOOD Music, Downtown Music Publishing, Dance Mania, Muzique, Relativity, Sony, MCA, Def Jam, Warner Bros, Parlophone, Ubiquity, ABB, BBE, Puma 5X12, Frank Radio Records
Associated acts	Gorillaz, Kanye West, Common, John Legend, Cody Chesnutt, Pusha T, Big Sean, Mark Ronson, Gilles Peterson, DJ Timbuck2, Raphael Saadiq, GOOD Music, No I.D., My Brightest Diamond
Website	soundcloud.com/thetwilitetone

Early life

Tone was born in Chicago, IL to parents Indria Khan and Anthony Christopher Craig. Tone was born with the surname Craig (his father's name), which was later changed to Khan, his family's surname. He was influenced by his uncle, Hassan Khan, who married Chaka Khan in 1970.[4] Tone's cousin is jazz bassist Richard Davis. He learned to play the trumpet in 3rd grade, and soon after learned to play percussion instruments. He was the drum section leader in his high school band, and DJ'd for the first time as a sophomore at a Kenwood Academy event.[4][5]

Career

Tone was first introduced to NO I.D. and Chicago rapper Common in 1987, and soon became the DJ for both in their collective group "CDR".[6] The group recorded an LP together and it was released in 1989, under the name 1015 or 326 later dubbed Dion & Tony.

In 1989, Tone met two dancers, Reggie and Clay, and together they formed Dem Dare, aka Darians,[7] to promote both house and hip-hop events. Tone DJ'd at the first show Dem Dare promoted, which took place at Club Alcatraz in Chicago. During this period Tone created the term Go-ill and Chic-Chic, as reference for Chicago. In 1990, Tone started working on Common demos.[8]

In 1992, Tone produced "Can I Borrow a Dollar"[9] the debut album by Common (then known as Common Sense), contributing to 12 of the album's 13 tracks. Tone, along with co-producer No I.D. produced the first and best-charting single was 1992's "Take It EZ". It reached No. 5 on the Hot Rap Singles chart while his next two singles, "Breaker 1/9"[10]" and "Soul by the Pound" reached No. 10 and No. 7 respectively.

In 1993, Tone produced "Can I Bust", which was the first time that Tone rhymed on a record.

In 1994, Tone, under the alias Ynot(Master Ynot Never The Less), produced "Chapter 13"[11] and "Sum Shit I Wrote" off Common's album Resurrection. Tone was also featured on Chapter 13[12] rapping under the name Ynot.

In 1997, Tone produced the track "Reminding Me (Of Sef)" off of Common's One Day It'll All Make Sense album.

From 1995 until 2000, Tone focused on DJing.[7] In 1999, he produced and rhymed on a track called "Get The Doe", which had ears buzzing and wanting to hear a full LP from Tone.

In 2006, Tone moved to New York, and continued heavy on the DJ scene, while getting back into mainstream production. From 2007 to 2009, Tone executive-produced, mixed, and produced two tracks of U-God third solo album Dopium,[13] which features Rims Poking Out and Hips.

In 2010, Tone produced the Just Write Mixtape series for the movie, starring Queen Latifah and Common.[14]

In 2012, Tone co-produced and co-wrote three tracks on Kanye West's & GOOD Music's Cruel Summer "Don't Like", and "The One" and the lead single "Mercy[15]",[16][17] which reached No. 1 on Billboard's US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and US Rap Songs Charts and went 2× Platinum.

In 2013, Tone contributed on the tracks "MILF" and "Mona Lisa" on Big Sean’s second album, Hall of Fame, released by GOOD Music and Def Jam Recordings.[18] He also produced "Who Do We Think We Are" and "What If I Told You (Interlude)" on John Legend’s Grammy-nominated album Love in the Future.[19] Continuing on his GOOD Music stretch, Tone contributed to Pusha T's "Nosetalgia" featuring Kendrick Lamar, from the album My Name Is My Name.

In 2015, Tone produced "Put the Guns Down"[20][21][22]" a posse cut to inspire the city's youth to end gun violence in Chicago with an all-star cast featuring Common, King Louie, G Herbo, Katie Got Bandz, Saba, Tree, No Name Gypsy, Mic Terror, and Nick Jr. of Treated Crew.

In 2016, Tone was selected from a handful of names to co-produce Gorillaz's 2017 album Humanz and is credited with production on all 19 of the album's tracks.[23][24][25] Footage of Tone's involvement with Gorillaz is featured in the 2019 Gorillaz documentary film "Reject False Icons".[26]

In 2018, My Brightest Diamond announced the release of a new album to be co-produced by The Twilite Tone.[27]

Tone has been quoted with having the following saying which he applies to everything: “Kill the dinosaur, and let the baby live”, meaning, let go of all your ego around the past and be in the now.

Selected discography

Year	Single	Artist	Label	Credit
1988	Gene Hunt presents Chicago Dance Tracks	Dion and Tony		Producer
1992	Can I Borrow a Dollar?	Common	Relativity	Producer
1992	Take it EZ	Common	Relativity	Co-Producer
1992	Breaker 1/9	Common	Relativity	Producer
1992	Soul by the pound	Common	Relativity	Producer
1993	Can I Bust	Common	Relativity	Producer
1994	Sum Shit I wrote	Common	Relativity	Producer
1994	Chapter 13 (Rich Man Vs. Poor Man)	Common	Relativity	Recorded as Ynot
1997	Reminding Me of Self	Common	Relativity	Producer
1999	Get the Doe Theme	Twilight Tone	Released Digitally	Rhymes, producer
2009	Hip	U-God	Babygrande	Producer
2009	Rims Pokin Out	U-God	BabyGrande	Producer
2010	Just Write mixtape series	Queen Latifah and Common	Released Digitally various websites	Producer
2012	Don't Like	Kanye West	GOOD Def Jam	Co-Producer
2012	The One	Kanye West	GOOD Def Jam	Co-Producer
2012	Mercy	Kanye West	GOOD Def Jam	Co-Producer
2013	MILF	Big Sean	GOOD Def Jam	Co-Producer
2013	Mona Lisa	Big Sean	GOOD Def Jam	Co-Producer
2013	Who Do We Think We Are	John Legend	GOOD Def Jam	Co-Producer
2013	What If I told you	John Legend	GOOD Def Jam	Producer
2013	Nosetalgia	Pusha T	GOOD Def Jam	Contributor
2015	Put The Guns Down	Common, King Louie, G Herbo, Katie Got Bandz, Saba, Tree, No Name Gypsy, Mic Terror, & Nick Jr. of Treated Crew		Producer
2017	Hallelujah Money	Gorillaz and Benjamin Clementine	Warner Bros.	Producer
2017	Andromeda	Gorillaz and DRAM	Warner Bros.	Producer
2017	Saturnz Barz	Gorillaz and Popcaan	Warner Bros.	Producer
2017	We Got the Power	Gorillaz, Jehnny Beth and Noel Gallagher	Warner Bros.	Producer
2017	Ascension	Gorillaz and Vince Staples	Warner Bros.	Producer
2018	Champagne	My Brightest Diamond	Rhyme & Reason Records	Co-producer

References

1. "Anthony Khan – Artist – The Grammys".
2. "The Twilite Tone – Credits – AllMusic".
3. "Gold & Platinum – RIAA".
4. "Chaka Khan". IMDb. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
5. "CPS :". cps.edu. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
6. "No I.D.: Rise and Shine – XXL".
7. "FSD Feature: Catching Up With The Twilite Tone – Fake Shore Drive®".
8. "AskMen.com – Common". October 1, 2007. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
9. "Can I Borrow a Dollar? – Common,Common Sense – Songs, Reviews, Credits – AllMusic".
10. "Common Sense :: Can I Borrow a Dollar? :: Relativity Records".
11. "Common – Resurrection CD Album". cduniverse.com. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
12. "Music: Resurrection by Common – Rhapsody Online". May 15, 2009. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
13. "Dopium – U-God | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
14. "Download Common's JUST WRIGHT-Inspired Song Mix! Plus: the Site Gets a Makeover | Fox Searchlight". Fox Searchlight. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
15. Okayplayer. "The Twilite Tone Recalls Chicago House's Glory Days Okayplayer".
16. "GOOD Music Cruel Summer Credits". AllMusic. September 18, 2012.
17. "Exclusive: Producer Twilite Tone Talks Working With Kanye West On "Mercy"". September 27, 2012.
18. "Hall of Fame – Big Sean | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
19. "Love in the Future – John Legend | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
20. "The Twilite Tone Feat. Common, Lil Herb, King Louie, Saba "Put The Guns Down" Video [New Video]".
21. Okayplayer. ""Put The Guns Down" feat. Common, King Louie, Lil Herb, Katie Got Bandz & More – Okayplayer Okayplayer".
22. http://hiphopdx.com, HipHopDX -. "The Twilite Tone f. Common, King Louie & Lil Herb – "Put The Guns Down"".
23. Rosenbaum, Marty. "New Footage Shows Gorillaz in Studio Working on New Album". cbslocal.com.
24. Phillips, Amy. "Gorillaz Reveal New Album Humanz Details, Cover Art, Massive Tracklist".
25. Morris, Jesse. "New Gorillaz Album Is Reportedly Coming in 2017". complex.com.
26. "PRESS RELEASE GORILLAZ: REJECT FALSE ICONS". Trafalgar Releasing. Trafalgar Releasing. November 21, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
27. "Bio – My Brightest Diamond". mybrightestdiamond.com. Retrieved September 9, 2018.