T.H.U.M.P. was born Jeffery Leon Toney on March 10, 1981 in the city of Oakland, California. Although Oakland was his hometown - he never had a stable place to call home. At one point in his youth he bounced between several hotels along the Mac Author Boulevard Strip - a street well-known for prostitution and heavy drug trafficking. "Raising two kids in a single parent home is tough enough. Being jobless made it seem impossible, but my mother did the best she could," says T.H.U.M.P. crediting his mother for her strong will through his adolescence. At the age of ten, T.H.U.M.P. was sent to live with his grandmother. This move allowed him to run free in the streets of Oakland where he got involved with neighborhood peers and formed a clique. They would visit local malls and pocket whatever they could for free. The music store was T.H.U.M.P.'s favorite spot. "I didn't like stealing, but I knew that new music was coming out. I didn't have anyone buying me anything so I did what I had to do to have the latest Hip-Hop." Influenced by the West coast Hip-Hop movement with artists like Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Tupac, and Snoop Dogg, T.H.U.M.P. began to perfect his rhyming skills and rap style. He practiced by using two tape recorders to dub his voice over popular Hip-Hop instrumentals. "There was something about the music that I could relate to. It was rebel music with a message that reflected the reality of my life." T.H.U.M.P. was discovered while participating in a citywide project called "The High School Compilation," which was created for inner city kids to utilize their energies by performing and recording music. Each high school had to choose one person to represent their school and record one song for the compilation. After winning a local talent show, at high demand, T.H.U.M.P. was selected to represent his school, Castlemont High. The CEO of 383 Records, an independent label that was located in the heart of East Oakland, heard T.H.U.M.P. recording a song for the compilation and immediately showed interest. 383 Records offered him a record deal right away. T.H.U.M.P. signed his first record deal in 1997, as a member of a rap duo called Side 2 Syde. Their debut album, "SkyBallin'", included collaborations with Knum-skull of The Luniz, G-Stack of The Delinquents and Richie Rich. This album sold well over 10,000 units independently. T.H.U.M.P.'s local success drove him to higher heights in the music industry. Despite his budding musical success, T.H.U.M.P. continued to face difficult times at home. At seventeen, he and his family were forced to split up, leaving him homeless. He moved from couch to couch at the homes of friends and landed on the floor of his cousin's hair braiding shop in Brookfield. To make ends meet Thump began to sell drugs and engaged in other illegal activity to survive. He would hustle all night, sometimes getting no sleep and be dressed and ready for school the next morning. In the midst of all this hardship, education was always a priority. "I knew I had a scholarship to go to any college I wanted to if I graduated from high school, but I also had to survive, so I did what anyone in my situation would do - hustled". After graduating high school, T.H.U.M.P took advantage of the full college scholarship given to him by the Oakland-based Oral Lee Brown Foundation. He then relocated to Chicago to attend Columbia College where he studied Art & Business Management. Relocating to another city allowed T.H.U.M.P. to take advantage of new opportunities in the music industry and exposed him to the world of Hip-Hop outside of the Bay Area. After graduating in 2003, T.H.U.M.P. moved back to California to lay the foundation for a successful solo rap career. He now resides back in the Bay Area and is preparing for his first debut solo album self entitled "T.H.U.M.P.", which stands for (The Hood United Means Power) T.H.U.M.P. says, "I've been through a lot growing up and I always knew what I wanted in life. Now I'm in the position to make that happen. All I have to do is keep focused and stay passionate, the rest will fall in place".
