Tony Sunshine

It all started for the Bronx-bred, Puerto Rican when he was the tender age of 5. That's when Antonio Cruz started to express him self by singing but it wasn't salsa music that inspired young Antonio, in fact his house wasn't filled with Latin music at all. It was always Soul and R&B that was playing in background of little Antonio's life. By the time he was 12, Tony knew he wanted to pursue a career in show business, especially after he witnessed Fat Joe ascend from being just a thug in their BX neighborhood to blossoming as a superstar.



When Tony was about 13 he saw Fat Joe with ‘ Digging in the Crates' at ‘Showtime at the Apollo' " I stepped to him and was like, 'Yo, listen, I sing.' " Fat Joe & Big Pun saw his potential and took Tony under their wing, letting him tag along to shows and trying to secure a recording contract for the teen.



R&B was born. This was Tony's stage name, it stood for Rough Brother but back then Fat Joe was known, as Joey Crack and his name didn't hold the weight it does today. Labels passed on his young protégé.



It wouldn't be until years later that Tony would graduate from tag-along status to full-fledged Terror Squad compatriot.



"I was away from the neighborhood for a while, trying to get myself together," Tony said. "I met up with Pun years later and he already had a couple of videos out. He was so happy to see me, he was like, 'Wow, where you been?' Next thing you know I was on four songs on Pun's [second] album. I went to the studio, started hanging out, and we started coming up with ideas together."



It was his idea for Tony's Artist name to be Sunshine and so R&B became Tony Sunshine and a solid member of the Terror Squad.



The tragedy that was the death of Big Pun from a heart attack in 2000 left Tony floored and for a while the ‘Happy Papi' was unhappy as he mourned and remembered his good friend Christopher Rios Aka Big Pun Aka Big Moon Dawg. "He always pushed me. It was like he knew his time was coming," recalled Tony, who starred in the video for "100%" after Pun's fatal heart attack. "He was saying little subliminal things to me like 'Always keep going' and if something happens to him, to listen to Joe.



Tony was able to rise above the tragedy and along with Fat Joe began recording some of their strongest material. Hits included a mixture of ballads and club stompers with producers Cool and Dre. He also collaborated with R. Kelly, Ginuwine, Fabolous and Capone-N-Noreaga.



Fat Joe was able to finalize a record deal for Tony in 2005 with Epic and Sony BMG. Tony Sunshine was released from Sony BMG in May, 2006 and was signed to Urban Box Office. In November 2006, UBO folded, leaving the future of Tony Sunshine's 2007 debut release uncertain.