The World Famous Tony Williams
Antony Von Williams, known professionally as the World Famous Tony Williams, is an American singer and songwriter from Oklahoma City. Williams is perhaps best known for his vocals on his first cousin Kanye West's debut album, The College Dropout (2004) as well as his subsequent albums.[2] He is currently managed by David Bullock.[3][4]
Tony Williams | |
|---|---|
Williams in 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Antony Von Williams[1] |
| Also known as | Penafire |
| Born | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Origin | Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels |
|
| Member of | |
Early life
Williams grew up an only child in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Both his mother and father had musical backgrounds, and Williams was given his first instrument, a saxophone, at the age of eight. He grew up singing in youth choirs at church and played in the marching band through his tenth grade year of high school. Williams love for music continued throughout his early adulthood as he went on to form several bands that ranged in style from funk, rock, alternative, and Christian alternative, and took on the role as lead vocalist.
Musical career
Songwriter
Williams' name appears on Kanye West's albums as Tony "Penafire" Williams which is the pseudonym he uses when crediting himself as a writer. He was a co-writer of two songs on The College Dropout, the Grammy Award winning 2004 album, following which Williams was invited to write for all of West's subsequent albums.
On the 2005 MTV documentary, Composing History The Making of Late Registration, he was featured producing vocals for Brandy on the song "Bring Me Down", which he co-wrote. During that documentary, West described Williams as being "a great writer with a cutting edge voice."[citation needed]
Singer
Tony Williams first became noticed as a singer when he debuted on Kanye West's Grammy winning album The College Dropout, singing a version of the gospel hymn "I'll Fly Away". By the second album, Late Registration, Kanye was giving Williams shout outs on the song, "We Major" which gave rise to the line Kanye fans use in reference to Williams, "I gotta say what's up to Tony Williams". On that same album Tony wrote the hook for the song, "Roses", which featured him singing with Patti LaBelle. This album not only promoted Tony Williams name, but for the first time fans were able to match his voice and name with a face. He was featured on the song and the video for "Drive Slow". Later, he was seen singing with Kanye when West was featured on the MTV television series, Life and Rhymes of Kanye West.
By the time Kanye went on the Touch the Sky Tour, Williams was known as the background singer that always accompanied West, including on several world tours.[5]
Williams is one of a few performers who have performed at two different Inaugural Balls;[clarification needed] the Neighborhood Ball where he performed with Jay-Z on the song, History, and the Youth Ball where he performed with Kanye West. His voice is recognized on some popular Hip Hop songs, having performed with, for example, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Nas, Game, and Rick Ross.[6]
In March 2010, Williams released his first mainstream project in the form of a mixtape, The World Famous Tony Williams: Finding Dakota Grey which was released with the GOOD Music stamp.[7] This project was a collection of original music, covers, and remixes, including the "Dreaming of your love remix" with the French rapper Matt Moerdock.
In October 2010, Williams released his first single "Everything About You" from his debut studio album, King or the Fool, which was released on February 14, 2012.
Featured artist
The first time Williams experienced artistic autonomy was in 2007 when he made an appearance on Kanye's Can't Tell Me Nothing mixtape, singing a song he had written and that was produced by Kanye, "Dreaming of Your Love". This legitimized him as a featured artist. It was at that time that Williams added "The World Famous" to his name to differentiate himself from the famous drummer with the same name, and because in the vocal sample of the song "Dreaming of Your Love" the intro says, "You're listening to the world famous". Williams has had songs played on Brazilian airwaves, where he sang some of the vocals in Portuguese, and some musical chart success in France.
Discography
Studio albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| King or the Fool |
|
| To Gain the World |
|
EPs
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The 7th Day |
|
Mixtapes
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Finding Dakota Grey |
|
| Some of My Best Rappers Are Friends |
|
Singles
As lead artist
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Everything About You"[12] | 2010 | non-album single |
| "Sleepover"[13] | 2012 | King or the Fool |
| "Another You"[14] (featuring Kanye West) | ||
| "Stuck in the Middle"[15] (featuring Cyhi The Prynce) | 2016 | non-album single |
| "Deck the Halls"[16] (with Wyn Starks and Jay-Way) | 2020 | |
| "Amen (Reborn)"[17] (with For King & Country and Lecrae) | 2021 | |
| "Everybody Knows"[18] (with Wale) | ||
| "Anymore"[19] (with Chandler Moore) |
Other charted songs
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [20] | AUS [21] | CAN [22] | |||
| "Donda" (Kanye West featuring Stalone and the World Famous Tony Williams) | 2021 | 58 | 38 | 48 | Donda |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||
Album credits
| Year | Album | Song | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Rashani – Positive and Progress | ||
| "All Ah Dem" | Vocals | ||
| "How long" | Vocals | ||
| "Conspiracy" | Vocals | ||
| "Mickey Mouse Lovin" | Vocals | ||
| 2004 | Kanye West – The College Dropout | ||
| "I'll Fly Away" | Vocals | ||
| "Spaceship" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| "School Spirit" | Vocals | ||
| "Lil Jimmy Skit" | Vocals | ||
| "Last Call" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| 2005 | Kanye West – Late Registration | ||
| Late Registration & The People's Champ | "Drive Slow" | Vocals | |
| "Crack Music" | Vocals | ||
| "Roses" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| "Bring Me Down" | Writer/Vocal Producer | ||
| "We Major" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| "Late" | Vocals | ||
| 2007 | Kanye West – Graduation | ||
| "Good Morning" | Vocals | ||
| "Champion" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| "Flashing Lights" | Vocals | ||
| "Everything I Am" | Vocals | ||
| "Homecoming" | Writer | ||
| 2007 | Consequence – Don't Quit Your Day Job! | ||
| "Don't Forget Em" | Vocals | ||
| "Disperse" | Vocals | ||
| "Who Knew My Luck Would Change?" | Vocals | ||
| 2008 | Kanye West – 808s & Heartbreak | ||
| "Say You Will" | Vocals | ||
| "Amazing" | Vocals | ||
| "RoboCop" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| "Street Lights" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| 2009 | More than a Game soundtrack | ||
| "History" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| 2009 | Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3 | ||
| "A Star Is Born" | Vocals | ||
| 2010 | Kid Sister – Ultraviolet (U.K. release) | ||
| "Daydreaming" | Vocals | ||
| 2010 | Rick Ross – Teflon Don | ||
| "Live Fast, Die Young" | Vocals | ||
| 2010 | Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | ||
| "Dark Fantasy" | Vocals | ||
| "Gorgeous" | Vocals | ||
| "All of the Lights" | Vocals | ||
| "Runaway" | Vocals | ||
| "Hell of a Life" | Vocals | ||
| "Lost in the World" | Vocals | ||
| 2011 | Outlawz – Perfect Timing | ||
| "Remember Me" | Vocals | ||
| 2011 | Promise – Awakening | ||
| "Everyone Knows" | Vocals | ||
| 2013 | Kanye West – Yeezus | ||
| "Blood on the Leaves" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| 2016 | Kanye West – The Life of Pablo | ||
| "Waves" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| 2018 | Pusha T – Daytona | ||
| "Hard Piano" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| "Santeria" | Writer | ||
| 2018 | Nas – NASIR | ||
| "Bonjour" | Vocals/Writer | ||
| 2018 | Teyana Taylor – K.T.S.E. | ||
| "3Way" | Writer | ||
| 2021 | Kanye West – Donda | ||
| "Donda" | Vocals |
References
- ^ "ACE Repertory".
- ^ "STOLI CHILLS WITH G.O.O.D MUSIC ARTIST TONY WILLIAMS / MP3 / VIDEO". Skopemag.com. January 26, 2009. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
- ^ "SABRINA VAZ-HOLDER TOOK OUR FAVE PIC OF CHANCE: DIGGING THROUGH THE GREATS". Green Label. April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
- ^ "Tony Williams (@TWFTonyWilliams) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
- ^ Shaheem Reid. "Kanye West Made Sure To Touch The Sky At Tour Launch". MTV News. MTV Network. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
- ^ "Rick Ross – Live Fast Die Young". djbooth.net. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
- ^ M. Gosho Oakes (March 12, 2010). "FREE Download: The World Famous Tony Williams: Finding Dakota Grey (G.O.O.D Music)". Soul Culture Media. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
- ^ "King or the Fool by The World Famous Tony Williams – United States". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ^ "G.O.O.D. Music's The World Famous Tony Williams Drops 'The 7th Day' EP Featuring Kanye West". Hypebeat.com. July 22, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
- ^ "The World Famous Tony Williams – Finding Dakota Grey // Free Mixtape". DatPiff. Idle Media Inc. March 2, 2010. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- ^ "The World Famous Tony Williams – Some of My Best Rappers Are Friends // Free Mixtape". DatPiff. Idle Media Inc. May 3, 2009. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
- ^ "Everything About You – Single by The World Famous Tony Williams – United States". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
- ^ "Sleepover – Single by The World Famous Tony Williams – United States". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ^ "Another You – Single by The World Famous Tony Williams – United States". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ^ "Stuck in the Middle (feat. Cyhi The Prynce) - Single by The WRLDFMS Tony Williams on Apple Music". Apple Music. United States. Apple Inc. October 7, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ "Deck the Halls - Single by Wyn Starks, The WRLDFMS Tony Williams & Jay-Way on Apple Music". Apple Music. United States. November 20, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ "Amen (Reborn) - Single by for KING & COUNTRY, Lecrae & The WRLDFMS Tony Williams on Apple Music". Apple Music. United States. January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ "Everybody Knows - Single by The WRLDFMS Tony Williams & Wale on Apple Music". Apple Music. United States. April 16, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ "Anymore - Single by The WRLDFMS Tony Williams & Chandler Moore on Apple Music". Apple Music. United States. December 10, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
- ^ "Kanye West – Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
- ^ "Discography Kanye West". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
- ^ "Kanye West – Chart History: Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
External links
- Official website[dead link]
- Tony Williams at AllMusic
- Tony Williams discography at Discogs
- Tony Williams discography at MusicBrainz