We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tony Dinero a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I was a teenager when I knew that being a producer was a path I wanted to travel down professionally. My pops would always tell me: “you have to network and know people” … and this is when I was in 8th grade. I didn’t know anybody except the homies at lunch banging the Clipse “Grindin” beat on the lunch tables. The closest person I had to the industry was my Uncle Kevin, who was a professional drummer. I would beg my Auntie Nae Nae to let me come there on spring/summer/winter breaks and raid the studio setup. One spring break she agreed, and it just so happened my uncle had a gig playing for India Arie live on 106th and Park. I swear spending that whole day with him was an eye-opening experience for me that made me want to pursue being a creative in life. I helped him load/unload his drums, got to watch the jam session rehearsal, be backstage, get a picture with the gorgeous host Free, and afterwards chill with the whole band at a small jam-packed diner somewhere in the city while I listened to their good time stories and talk shit to each other. I had so much fun that big unc and I forgot we had to pick up auntie when she got off work late, and as easy-going and peaceful of woman she is, she let us have it when we showed up hours late. With me being the individual I am and noticing auntie was already mad, I pushed for uncle to get in the studio so I can make a beat to rap to. I took it as this wasn’t the first time and wouldn’t be the last that a moment like this occurred, because he actually locked in with me. We remade the Chi Town classic Twista “Adrenaline Rush” (there was no YouTube at this time), and I also made my own beat and wrote a full song to it. I was in complete awe of the process and knew at that moment I would want the majority of my days on this Earth to be lived like that day, or better. The next morning, I didn’t know if my auntie was still mad or if she was just happy that I was getting back on a plane to go back home. We laugh about it all the time now but that single day set me on this path, got me an old drum machine to get my weight up, and be black balled by auntie Nae Nae from coming back to the raid the studio. I eventually got my own set up at my crib and nothing was the same after.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Music is something that’s always been a part of my life. I always felt a strong connection to it, and it only got stronger as I got older. My older brother Reggie and his friends would break dance, and my mom would force him to take me with him when he left the house in hopes of keeping him out of trouble, so little by little I began to breakdance with them. Even though I was heavily into sports in my younger years, writing the lyrics of my favorite rap songs and creating my own was something that always had my attention. My older sister Resee played a vital role as well. She kept me on point with who was popping when I was younger. She’d listen to Jay Z, Nas, DMX, Outkast, and everybody else that was hot at that time. That eventually became my taste and ear for what I found myself listening to. Like many around that time, everybody had the lyrics, but nobody had the beats. My uncle Kevin introduced me to my first ever drum machine and I was instantly hooked. It was some old pop drums used on Madonna records in the 80s, but it taught me the basics on knowing the tempos, beat count, and programming. As I began to hone my skills more, I eventually felt ready to play with the big boys and got a MPC2000XL. When I told my pops how much it cost, he said “hell no”. To show I was serious about it, I worked for my apartment complex every day after school picking up trash around the property. I managed to save around $800 and with the understanding that “this is your Christmas for the next two to three years”, my pops finally agreed to get it.
I sampled any and everything I could find that had sound. I started making beat tapes and giving them to the rappers around school and started making a name for myself. In my junior year of high school, my pops retired from the military and moved back to Chicago. Once I touched down there it was a whole different ball game. I began to meet up with individuals who were actually in the industry and making moves both on the independent and major level.
Once Kanye said, “what you know about doing five beats a day for three summers?” I knew I had to be on my grind perfecting my craft at every moment. The hard work began to pay off eventually and I signed to an independent production company by the name of Cold City. The opportunity afforded me my first placement ever with a record by Shawnna titled “Damn”, along with working many other artists in the city that were making waves in the industry like Bump J, Twista, Cap-1, just to name a few. The biggest moment of all was definitely being a part of one of my favorite artists of all time Ludacris’ Battle of the Sexes album with the song “I Do It All Night”. When I got the opportunity to move into the pop lane, I jumped at the chance and moved to Phoenix AZ. Things didn’t work out as planned, but it allowed me the opportunity to meet MixedbyKB. We forged a brotherhood and created 4orty2Productions, a one stop shop for everything musically related. We provide full music production, writing, recording/mixing, videography, and marketing to help any artist, whether it’s for a single or a full project.
Locking in with artists face-to-face and matching energy is where we excel. We don’t just send out packs, we’d rather have the artists come lock in with us and bring out the greatness together!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
One of the most rewarding aspects of being a creative has to be when you’ve put so much of your being and emotion into your passion that once it’s presented to the masses, you get a chance to realize that you’re not alone and others feel the same exact vibes and things that you do. As creatives, we can get bogged down and sidetracked with the opinions of others and begin to stray away from what truly matters: the art itself. There’s probably no greater feeling than creating a song that’s 1000 percent authentically you and getting feedback like: “whenever I’m feeling a certain type of way, I listen to your creation and it helps me keep going”. Everybody is vulnerable, but it’s the creative who gets the prize at the end of the day for opening up and sharing a part of themselves that can potentially be the light for somebody you’ve never come in contact with. I’m sure we all would love to sell out big arenas and headline festivals which can happen at any time for anybody who’s putting in the work, but finding your core loyal fan base, that’s gonna connect with you and ride or die with your creative journey is priceless. That’s how art lives on and more creatives rise up.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Getting paid for any work you do will forever be rewarding. Getting paid for what you love to do creatively is a high like no other and makes you want to grind that much harder. It is very important to realize the balance of keeping your artistic integrity and getting paid for your art. I’m not telling anybody what to say on their records, what genre, or what clothes to wear or not wear because that’s a choice for that particular creative and their art. For me, I draw my line if I realize my heart isn’t attached to it. If my heart isn’t attached to it, then I can’t associate with it. Standing on all ten behind your art is more important than any dollar you can ever receive. I’ve been paid well for beats/projects in the past where I may have given an artist a record because they’re spending money and wound up absolutely disliking the overall outcome of what they did with a song…watching them treat it like trash and defiling all the hard work and feeling I put into a track. It leaves you feeling empty inside like you just abandoned something you really love for some bread? We all have a life to live and there’s a time when you have to make sacrifices to get to the next step, but all I’m saying is think twice and then, think two more times after that before you sacrifice your creative talent.
Contact Info:
- Website: 40rty2Productions.com
- Instagram: Dinerofromtheland@gmail.com