Tabiabuè Bonney, better known as Tabi Bonney, is a

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

-born,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

–based rapper. He is the son of Itadi Bonney, an

afro-funk Afrobeat (also known as Afrofunk) is a West African music genre, fusing influences from Nigerian (such as Yoruba music, Yoruba) and Ghanaian (such as highlife) music, with American funk, jazz, and Soul music, soul influences. With a focus on cha ...

musician popular during the 1970s in Togo and

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. Bonney achieved recognition in the

Washington metro area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washington, D.C., the fed ...

with his radio singles "The Pocket" and "Doin It," which featured Raheem DeVaughn. Bonney started a clothing line called Bonney Runway; he has also directed and produced music videos for several artists including friend and fellow D.C.-associated rapper Wale.

Biography

Bonney was born in

Lomé Lomé ( , ) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Togo, largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

, to musician Itadi Bonney and Jo, a teacher from Washington, D.C. who had been stationed in Lomé through the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

. Political turmoil in Togo forced the Bonneys to flee the country, and they eventually settled in D.C. Bonney's parents did not wish for him to become a musician. They insisted that he attend college, and he enrolled at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

to study pre-med. He earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

with plans to become a doctor, but pursued other paths after he realized his heart wasn't in it. He was a science teacher at Roosevelt High School in Petworth, Washington, D.C., for two years after college.

Music career

While in college, Bonney and friend Haziq Ali formed a group called Organized Rhyme. The group opened for artists including

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), known Mononym, mononymously as Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early 1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance Rivera, Lance "Un" Rivera's Lance Rivera, Untertainment, a ...

, and

OutKast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

. In 2006, Bonney had a regional breakout hit with "The Pocket," his first single from ''A Fly Guy's Theme''. In 2011, Bonney released ''The Summer Years'', his fourth studio album, with songs sampling his father's music and featuring Terri Walker and Murs.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''A Fly Guy's Theme'' (2006) * ''Dope'' (2009) * ''Fresh'' (2010) * ''The Summer Years'' (2011) * ''Le Bon Voyage (EP)'' (2018)

Mixtapes

* ''A Place Called Stardom'' (2010) * ''Postcards from Abroad'' (2011) * ''Lovejoy Park'' (2012) * ''The Endless Summer'' (2012)

References

External links

Tabi Bonney
on

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Tabi Bonney
on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonney, Tabi Togolese emigrants to the United States African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers 1977 births Living people Rappers from Washington, D.C. 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians