Toni Cottura (born 7 June 1971), better known by his stage name Smooth T., is an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
-born
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
Eurodance
Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...
and
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
producer and rapper.
Musical career
He started his career in 1988 as a hip hop producer with David Fascher and later worked with DJ Shahin.
In 1993, he founded the Eurodance group Fun Factory, where he started as a dancer before he went on to producer, songwriter and then moved up to rapping on the band's second album. Fun Factory disbanded in 1996. Cottura and partner Bülent Aris began to concentrate on their hip-hop collective, known as the Booya Family.
While at Booya, he produced tracks for a variety of artists including Nana (a.k.a. Darkman), Pappa Bear, Ray Horton, Jonestown, A.K. Swift and Alex Prince, mostly in
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
boy band
A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...
s
'N Sync
NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, Joey ...
U Drive Me Crazy
"U Drive Me Crazy" is the first single taken from American boy band NSYNC's seasonal studio album, ''The Winter Album (NSYNC album), The Winter Album'', as well as on the UK version of their 'N Sync (album), self-titled debut album.
Music video ...
") and
Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...
("
Get Down
Get Down may refer to:
* Get down, a stance or movement in traditional African culture, in African American culture, and throughout the Black African diaspora
Film and television
* ''Get Down'' (film) or ''Treed Murray'', a 2001 Canadian film
* ...
") and collaborated with P. Diddy.
In 2000, Cottura parted ways with Aris and disbanded Booya, returning to Eurodance to form
The Underdog Project
The Underdog Project is a German Electronic dance music, dance group which launched its first album, ''It Doesn't Matter (album), It Doesn't Matter'' in 2001. Their hits include "Saturday" (not to be confused with "Saturday Night"; this was not ...
and ''
Popstars
''Popstars'' is an international reality television franchise aimed to find new singing talent. Serving as a precursor to the ''Idol'' franchise, '' Popstars'' first began in New Zealand in 1999 when producer Jonathan Dowling formed the girl gr ...
'' winners
Bro'Sis
Bro'Sis was a multicultural R&B/ pop group from Germany, which was formed through the TV series '' Popstars – Du bist mein Traum'' in 2001. The group comprised the singers Ross Antony, Hila Bronstein, Shaham Joyce, Faiz Mangat, Indira Weis ...
. He made a surprise return in 2003 with a pop ballad, "Fly".
In 2002, Cottura produced the track "Bounce" for Sarah Connor's 2002 album "Unbelievable"
In 2006, Cottura returned to the scene with a new single entitled "Quieres Una Aventura", a duet with Romanian singer