Q. Tell everyone who you are and where you’re from.
A. My name is Image. I’m from Atlanta Ga.
Q. What or who inspired you to be the woman you are today?
A. The women in my life along with my experiences throughout my 23 years.
Q. Tell us about this new single “Upset”?
A. I made Upset when I was Upset, or should I say I was aggravated. I rarely get upset. Lol. Dudes just need to understand girls make the world go around.
Q. Tell everyone who Toon is and how you got the name Toon?
A. Well Toon is a humble person who grew up on the southside of Atlanta who always loves sports and music. I love to rhyme….I got my name from my grandma. She passed a year after I was born so we just stuck with Toon because she gave me that name but she got it from my girl cousin whose name was Toon Toon…
Q. What made you want to be a Rapper?
A. I always like to rhyme words together and make a story like a poet. It was just in me from the jump.
Q. What is one of your best experiences or accomplishments?
A. Seeing my family happy about my success and having the best team ever with me period and that’s MMR x CLB 4Life in my best experience coming out of the helicopter for my mixtape release was like a movie straight up.
Q. What or who inspired you to be a Rapper?
A. My lifestyle, the struggle, the pain and my family.
Quote “People only know what you’re capable of after you’ve already done it. It’s not about proving anything to others but setting out to prove to myself that I can do anything I set my mind to.”
Q. Tell everyone who Hashim Lafond is?
A. Hashim Lafond is a father to five beautiful children, a husband to the sexiest women alive and I am creative. I’m looking to live out a life to accomplish all that is on my heart to do as a husband, a father and in all my artistic pursuits.
Q. Tell us who inspired you to be the man you are today?
A. My parents have been my biggest influence. My mother groomed my siblings and I to be artists. My father always told me that I can do anything I put my mind to. As a child, when it came to my artistry, he would give me feedback and encourage me to go back to the drawing board, which ultimately helped me to finesse my skills.
Q. I see you were in “Ted 2” and the “Purge 3” how was that experience?
A. They were amazing opportunities. More than an actor playing a role…behind the scenes, I was a student, watching everything, the cameras, the other actors, snapping photos of the equipment…I desired to learn the entire production process.
Q. Is there anything you’d like to add?
A. I’m honored to be featured here. I don’t take this for granted at all
“My music is representative of my journey but also the journey of the people around me.”
“I’ve been blessed with fans that use my music as an outlet for their own struggles and triumphs.”
Q. Tell us more about who Yonas the Hip-Hop artist is?
A. Yonas the Hip-Hop artist is the same as Yonas the man, Yonas the father, and more. I try to lead my life and my business with authenticity. The man on the stage is the same man you meet at the bar, in the grocery store, and on the street. My music is representative of my journey but also the journey of the people around me. I’ve been blessed with fans that use my music as an outlet for their own struggles and triumphs. The good and the bad, that’s what we’re here for.
Q. What or Who influenced you to get into music?
A. My mother. After my Pops passed away, I was looking for an outlet to take out all of my frustrations and anger. My mom pushed me to pick up a violin and channel that in music. The rest was history!
Q. Tell us about your new single (OMG)?
A. OMG is an anthem for all those who have been rocking with me from the jump. It’s me saying from now on everything we do will come with a shock factor. If you’re reading this, get ready! This is just the beginning.
Q. How is the music in Europe different from the U.S. music?
A. The fans are nuts in Europe. I’ve been blessed to tour all over the world, but Europe is something special. Those fans wait outside the venue before we even show up for load in and soundcheck. They have my face tattooed on their bodies. Wild to have that impact on someone’s life. Only more of a motivator keeps pushing the boundaries.
A. In the music industry, I noticed social media played a part in how you can feel alone when doing things. Everyone wants to be followed on social media, but you don’t feel like people are following and sharing your music. You get emotions and feelings like you’re doing it all by yourself and like you’re all alone. I dealt with individuals in my life who said they were going to be there with me, and then they never stuck around.
Q. So are you a producer and artist?
A. I started out as an artist. I love rapping. I am from the Bronx, and I would watch rappers and DJs. When starting off as a rapper, you’re always going to need a producer. Back in that time, you could not find as many people who could make music, so that’s how production came about. The first artist I worked with was Rob Base.
Q. How did you get up with Michael Bivins?
A. Michael Bivins was looking for an artist. Michael liked my writing and then I was like his road buddy and his mentor. I saw his capability to do great things. He is a genius and a great businessman. He started up Boys II Men and Another Bad Creation (ABC). Michael was great and he knew how to capture the culture and the industry. They went Platinum 14 times.
Q. Do you keep in touch with everyone in the industry?
A. Yes, I just did a track with Rickey Bell and his wife. They had a song called “Goal”. I remixed it and we released it for the tornado they went through. We were going to donate all the money to Puerto Rico.
International Nova Single Release party (Controla)
At Door 54 in Atlanta
By: Cece Hymes
Glad to be invited to Billboard charting urban Latin artist International Nova single release party. This was a great event at Door 54. The DJ played some great music to keep the crowd entertained. It also was sponsored by a new drink called Coladka. They were giving out shots for people to try. Not much of a drinker so can’t really say how it tasted but make sure to try it out and give me some reviews on it.
The song Controla is a nice song by International Nova featuring Petey Pablo. Nice to have a good Latin song you can jam too. Very proud to see this song playing all over the world. It’s a song you can dance too and just enjoy the vibe.
International Nova gave much love to all the fans and also all the media that was in the building. I love seeing artists come out and go up to everyone to say hello and acknowledge everyone that came to support. I saw people from Texas, Florida, North Carolina and different places that came to Atlanta to support this artist.
Very Proud of International Nova and he gave the crowd an exclusive of his next single that he performed which sounds really dope so stay tuned to what this artist has going on. Tune in and tell me what you think of the song.
