I know what Tonex is saying, but I'm going to trust my gut on this one. I could see awhile back that Tonex was slowly, but surely, evolving into "something else"(Or de-evolving, to many of you). I firmly believe that he just finally reached a point that he's found the will to completely remove the mask(I think their is more to come, personally). I've listened to this guy closely, and I watched many of his performance's/sermons ... and I saw a dude in conflict. If anyone has heard him preach ... he's ...uh, pretty hard-core. Yet, this other side of him is the antithesis of the fire-breathing, Holiness or Hell, Pastor I've heard on many occassion...
Their is no way you can publicly reveal two completely different sides of yourself, and not expect any type of ridicule. All that he's gone through, in my opinion, is self-inflicted. Yet, he seems imbittered for people lashing out at him for stomping on their Christian/Traditional sensibilities. Weird...
I find it ironic that his album "Out The Box" came at a time when he was instructed to tone down his flamboyance. I specifically remember him saying that God told him that he had to tone it down, and "put on a suit" .. in order to reach many people. He was alienating people by having the wacky hair-styles, and clothes. Yet, he recently said that this was his decision to tone it down, and he was trying to conform to what he thought everyone wantd him to be...
He contradicted himself, but I don't hold that against him. Often time's, people lie, because they're afraid of the consequences of the truth. You think he would come out and tell people "Hey, I toned it down because I was trying to conform to you all's standard." Truth be told, someone with an ego that big would hardly let it be said, by his mouth, that he let people change him. Yet, that's exactly what he said recently, but that's because it makes him look like the victim. So, it suited his purpose...
Believe it or not, I'm a fan of Tonex .. but, as I said before, I saw this coming a long time ago. You read it here first! This is only the beginning. No, I'm not saying he's going to come out of the closet as a homosexual ... but, don't be surprised if their is a shift in his spiritual belief's ... and he start's to do less and less Christian/Gospel music.
1. At first, the tracks were influenced by other genres, but with lyrics that didn't clash with his belief system. A lot of his stuff was a quite edgy for a Christian/Gospel artist - but the message was there..
2. Now he's actually saying things in songs that he'd never allow himself to say before. The boldness is growing...
3. ?
Hate to sound like I'm bashing Tonex, but I'm not. I'm just giving my version of "The Naked Truth". I've been there and done what he seem's to be doing - just not on such a large scale...
