The Naked Truth

Hmmm...

This album will present a lot of problems for a lot of people...or at least those who haven't completely deleted Ton3x from their playlists, and still yearn for the old Tonex.

About a year ago, Tonex (before he became Ton3x) released "The Naked Truth" on his myspace page--I guess people say it was "leaked" because it wasn't promoted. But mind you, this was no accident. This was, in fact, a realease (this was actually a typo, but I think I'll coin it) of the things that Tonex had gone through in the church, in the gospel music industry, and in his life.

The mixtape, however, though 20 tracks long, is not simply Tonex complaining about how church people suck, etc. And I could say that the music is a deviation from what we expect gospel music to sound like...but first of all, I could say that about anything, and secondly, this ain't gospel music. By connotation.

What kind of gospel music tells you that taking advantage of a woman because she's not what society describes as a beautiful woman doesn't make you macho; it makes you an @sshole?

What kind of gospel music has the singer admit "I still smoke weed, did I mention that"?

What kind of gospel music calls church-goers "niggas" and "motherf#ckers"?

It's not gospel music, plain and simple, because gospel music--or the current industry--doesn't allow you much room to be real.

And bear in mind, there is a time and a place for "gospel music." There's a time for inhuman ministry. For example, you may have been to a church where the preachers and choirs wear robes when they minister. And though the robes look intricate sometimes and a bit extra in design, the original intent of the robe (or so I was told) was to serve as a covering to the man, so that the man doesn't distract from the pureness of God's word. Basically, it was so that God can speak as clearly as possible through the minister, and the man is made blank before the congregation.

And as I said, there's a time for that. The problem with the robes, though, is that they take away the human element from the Good News, and can sometimes make it so unreal and so out of reach for listeners, when in actuality, the Gospel story is very tangible. Or at least, that's why I believe it. Because it's relevant. And though putting the Gospel behind a robe purifies it, what we need to remember is that there's a huge part of this Gospel that ain't a bit pure, and it's us.

And that, I contend, is part of Tonex's message. If you took the Gospel for all it was, and not the cookie-cutter ish they feed you on Sundays, would you still be able to handle it? If you really took into consideration that the whore you passed off a few years ago could make it into heaven before you--hell, end up ministering to you--could you still serve our God? If you saw how filthy God's hand had become from scooping so many people out of their mess, if you saw how absolutely effed up it is for us to make a messiah out of a dude that was crucified as a common criminal, a dude that couldn't even breathe long enough for the soldiers to break his legs, could you still bow down and worship? Have you really thought about this mess? Or did you let church folks do it for you? Do you even KNOW why you go to church on Sunday and not Saturday?

So here comes Tonex with this release. And it's so freaking weird at first...but you just have to be patient and let it play out. But it's a true mixtape; everything runs together. And you can dissect the tracks on second listen, but I'd advise you to get a good hour to yourself and listen to it all the way through once. It's a real testament to the talent and creativity of Ton3x. And it takes you on a journey.

He catches us up at the beginning of the album with "Searchin'," which basically depicts his search for his role as a minister, and his freedom in the industry, which is all most of this controversy has been about.

Then, you kinda float through the album...go through the Vintage Galaxy, slide through the Drunk Boy interlude to get to On We Go (featuring E.B. Williams/Mama), suffer some Shock Therapy, etc. It flows.

Then you get to track 19. The title track. What. The. Hell.

It was weird when I first heard it, because I didn't expect it to come so close to the end of the album. It's SO different from everything else. And even though I've heard it and I recognized it (much like many of the songs on here) from stuff he had on his myspace, it was still weird hearing it here. It was like a wake-up call after the rest of the album got you used to enjoying the melodic aspects of Ton3x. After all this, the Naked Truth still snuck up on me and beat the living hell out of me.

And it gave me an idea of how serious all this is. Every song in this album was a different view of the Naked Truth that is Ton3x. The truth about who he is, the truth about his message, the truth about the God he serves...the truth. The naked, damn, truth.

And apparently, Ton3x is pretty secure that he looks good naked. This here's a hit.

Top 5 picks: Elegant Simple, Blairtree Road (listen to this one at least 3 times), The Love, I Noticed (it's an interlude, but listen to what he's saying...lol) and On We Go.

1. Searchin'
2. Vintage Galaxy
3. Drunk Boy
4. On We Go (feat. E.B. Williams)
5. Shock Therapy
6. The Love
7. Bi Our Love
8. Never (Single)
9. Same Ole
10. Take 2
11. Water
12. Creepin'
13. I Noticed
14. Jenny Jones
15. Gone
16. Blairtree Road
17. Elegant Simple
18. Casa De Oro
19. The Naked Truth
20. FREEDOM: Truth