Hasta la vista, baby!

So you want to hear about a star that burned bright but short? Look no further than our man Tone-Loc. Tone hit it huge in 1989 with the release of his debut album Loc-ed After Dark, which, spurred by the hit singles Wild Thing and Funky Cold Medina, would go on to became the second rap release ever to top the pop charts (anyone want to guess what was the first?).

Although not given his props (probably in large part to his pop success), Tone was part of the shift in hip hop from being an underground movement to influencing popular culture at large, and I don't just mean music. He would go on to release a second album two years later in 1991 (Cool Hand Loc), but it failed to gain the attention his debut did, either from the pop world or the genuine hip hop world, and it would be the end of the line for Tone's singing career, although he would go on to do a substantial amount of acting, both in movies and on TV.

Cut scene to twenty years later (today, that is), and Delicious Vinyl has re-released the album in a digital deluxe edition with the original eleven tracks plus six bonus cuts. You'll find a couple below, including Cuttin Rhythms (a song that shows early shades of the west coast sound and Dre's work on The Chronic) and On Fire, one of the bonus tracks and the very first single that the label ever put out.

Tone-Loc - Cuttin Rhythms : Loc'd After Dark (Deluxe Edition)

Tone-Loc - On Fire (OG 12" Version) : Loc'd After Dark (Deluxe Edition)

Visit his label Delicious Vinyl.