If you haven’t heard of Tone Royal yet, now would be a good time to catch up with the artist, as he’s just released his debut album and like the title says, he very much is Rushing Greatness. With a few rap contests and live shows under his belt, Tone Royal has started to take Austin by storm, as have the local Austinites featured on the album like Phillip Wolf and others. As if that wasn’t enough, he’s also studying at UT to become a sports journalist, and acting as co-host on Korey Coleman’s entertainment website doubletoasted.com where he’s better known by his real name, Ray Villarreal. The album, Rushing Greatness, provides a wide variety of styles that at its worst sound like Mac Miller, and at its best, George Watsky. But unlike some of Mac Miller’s work, most (perhaps not all) of Tone Royal’s lyrics are quite meaningful, especially on the songs that are more spoken word than actual rap, like “Want You Back” and the end of “Clark Kent.” If nothing else, Tone Royal’s album proves that great rappers are still out there putting their stuff up online for free, in the hopes that their name will get bigger, so be part of the process and listen below.
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by Nicholas Augusto Gomez Fullerton