Jessica Holter sits down with D'Wayne Wiggins for Coffy & Cocktails at Electric Church in Hampton, GA just a few weeks after all three members of Tony Toni Tone' wipe their Instagram pages clean and Raphael Sadiiq announces he will revisit the trio for the "Just Me & You" Tour in the fall of 2023. The eldest Tony discusses his philanthropic endeavors and his plans to build a creative utopia for artists and creative businesses in Hampton Georgia.
Tony! Toni! Toné! is a legendary American Band from Oakland, California, with 14 Billboard-charting R&B singles; including five number-one hits, three top ten pop singles, one gold album, two platinum albums, one double platinum album, and over six million albums sold. They have been around for decades, and had become a local favorite at clubs throughout the Bay Area during the Mid-1980s leading up to the 1988 release of their debut album Who?
Led by Singer/Songwriter, and Guitarist D'Wayne Wiggins, the original musical trio included D'Wayne Wiggins' younger brother Charles Ray Wiggins on lead vocals and bass, and Timothy Christian Riley on drums, keyboards, and background vocals. At a time when R&B and Hip-Hop were being fused together with synthetic beats and samples, Tony! Toni! Toné! ushered the New Jack Swing onto stages with live instrumentation, high energy, and colorful, cutting-edge fashion. Their sophomore album, The Revival, was released in 1990, and their double platinum-certified Sons of Soul was released in 1993.
The group reached Platinum status once more with House of Music in 1996, before Lead Vocalist, Charles Ray Wiggins, left the group and reemerged as Raphael Saadiq. Today, Bandleader, D'Wayne Wiggins, continues to tour Tony! Toni! Toné! concerts to sold-out audiences around the world while mentoring young musicians who bring an electric energy to the timeless sound of Tony! Toni! Toné!, Tour Dates can be found on their website at TonyToniTone.com. The roster of artists who have mixed melodies with Tony! Toni! Toné! is remarkably diverse, crossing nearly every musical genre from Electronic Dance to Jazz, Hip Hop, Gospel music, and movie soundtracks, including Like Mike, Whip It, and Universal Soldier. Whatever You Want, was sampled for the Platinum record Whatever You Need by Meek Mill feat. Chris Brown and Ty Dolla $ign (2017), exposed a new generation to The Tonies, as they are sometimes called. There is a myriad of samples and covers of hits, such as Anniversary, which has been sampled 26 times and sparked a TikTok Dance Challenge.
