Biography:

Tone Capone (b. Anthony Douglas Gilmour, November 5,[1] 1966 – September 12, 2026) was an American hip-hop producer[2] and DJ.[1]

He is credited with bringing the mobb music style of Bay Area hip-hop to a wider audience with his work on Luniz‘s 1995 hit single “I Got 5 on It“, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on Billboard Hot Rap Songs, and has been called “hip-hop’s ultimate weed anthem”.[3]

He was born in Berkeley, California and raised in North Oakland. He learned to DJ at Berkeley High School using turntables borrowed from a friend, and started playing at parties. When he left school in the mid-1980s, he began producing tracks for the likes of SWV and Oakland hip-hop group Capital Tax, using the names DJG and DJ Smooth G.[4] He adopted the name Tone Capone around 1993.[3] One of his schoolfriends was R&B singer Michael Marshall, and it was Capone’s idea to have Marshall sing the chorus of “I Got 5 on It”, which the members of Luniz had originally rapped.[2]

A prolific producer, he also worked with “a who’s-who of Bay Area rap”, producing tracks for 3X Krazy, Mac Dre, Celly Cel, E-40, The Jacka, Dru Down, The Click, The Conscious Daughters, Mac Mall, Messy Marv, Andre Nickatina, Spice 1 and San Quinn, as well as Houston rappers including Devin the Dude and Scarface.[2] After working in the early 1990s with Oakland rapper Seagram, who was signed to Rap-A-Lot Records,[5] Capone was introduced to Rap-A-Lot CEO J. Prince, who placed protege Mike Dean with Capone to develop his production skills.[6] Through Dean, he was introduced to Scarface, and the three produced much of the 1997 album The Untouchable. Scarface included Capone on a list of all-time greatest producers in his memoir Diary of a Madman, alongside the likes of Dr. Dre, Pharrell Williams and Timbaland.[2]

Capone died on September 12, 2026. He was retired from music at the time of his death, having previously worked in a hospital.[2]

Credits: