Tionne- Excelling Through His Church Roots
People You Should Know — By Buddy Sampson on May 23, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Tionne, aka Tionne Williams
At 24, is a Pop and R&B artist whose life has taken a series of radical turns. Born in Watts, he’s seen his fair share of violence in his neighborhood, with unreported crime a common occurrence. His story is one of family, one of church and the story of a young artist who is undeterred in his quest to be a successful performer, actor, and model.
He left Los Angeles when he was eleven, amid the specter of gangs that even affected one of his relatives. “My brother was involved with gangs, too, so I got protection from my older brother and his gang buddies,” said Tionne. ”You get tested, though. They want to see how hard you are.” What saved Tionne, however, was his loving grandmother, gospel singer B.J. Stanton. “My grandmother, BJ Stanton, is my biggest musical inspiration,” he said.” She is the one that really cultivated that musical gift within me and gave me the unction to go boldly in pursuit of my dreams. She gave us structure. She took us to church and allowed me to be a kid.” Stanton was the choir instructor of the church they attended and discovered, at the age of six, that he had natural musical talent.
But Tionne had to, perhaps, grow up too soon. Like many families, his grandmother had to work. “She was working second shift, so when I came in after school, I had immediately had to put my books down and take care of my 13 day old baby brother. It was tough.”
At the age of twelve, Tionne’s family moved to Seattle, Washington, where he excelled in the Washington State Children’s Mass Choir as a featured soloist. Later his family relocated to Chattanooga, TN where he experienced, well, a bit of culture shock. “It was slow,” said Tionne of the small city. “It wasn’t an ideal location for a young person to go and have fun. I couldn’t pursue the arts; there was no type of vehicles to really pursue singing except for choir. It was an old country town. I experienced a lot of racism there.” Fortunately, at age sixteen, Tionne returned to Los Angeles to pursue dreams of an acting and singing career.
And Tionne fared well, landing roles in the TV shows “Moesha,” “ER” “The Young and The Restless” and “Boston Public” among others. “A lot of that stuff came from doing extra work,” said Tionne, who also refined his stage acting chops working in plays, such as the NAACP Image Award winning, “Forgotten Treasures” and “God’s Trying To Tell You Something,” which featured Angie Stone, Tramaine Hawkins and Vanessa Bell-Armstrong. “So it was great. I love acting and I want to do it until I die.” And the critics have recognized his work. He was nominated as “Rising Star of the Year” by The Los Angeles Black Music Awards. Involved in charity work, he put together a benefit concert after the 2004 East Asia Tsunami that featured Patti Labelle, CeCe Winans, Shirley Caesar, The Clark Sisters and others.
The young artist has taken his strong church roots and used them to his advantage. He’s recorded a single, “Unfreeze” which demonstrates his solid vocal prowess. It is a light and airy single with a distinct sound and R&B feel. Produced by Jason “Jed-I” Edmonds (nephew of Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds) “Unfreeze” has garnered over a million hits on his My Space page. The handsome actor and singer has a bright future in Hollywood and has come full circle from the days of his youth in Watts amid gang violence and peer pressure. It is for that reason that Tionne, a sensational artist, is one of the People You Should Know.
Visit www.tionnesworld.com, www.myspace.com/officiallytionne, www.imeem.com/officiallytionne.
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76 Comments
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