A.Tone Da Priest

Marco Antonio Restrepo (born October 22, 1989), better known by his stage name A.Tone Da Priest, is an American rapper, and record producer from Atlanta, GA. He is currently signed to his own record label Farsyde Entertainment.

Marco Antonio Restrepo was born in Marietta, GA, the son of Nigerian and Panamanian immigrants. He moved throughout Atlanta during his childhood due to the separation of his parents but he was primarily raised by his mother. At age 6, Marco was exposed to several different types of music by his father, who was a fan of numerous types of music. Whether salsa, pop, or hip hop, Marco would make it a habit to memorize his favorite songs and constantly sing them to anyone who would listen. A.Tone cites Eazy-E, Outkast, 2Pac, Big L, T.I., Nirvana, Linkin Park and Sum41 as his biggest musical influences.

He seriously began pursuing music as a career in the summer of 2007 when he was introduced to Grammy Award winning production team, The J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League. With their assistance he would land an intern position at one of Atlanta’s premiere studios, Hot Beats Recording Studios. In 2008 he would teach himself how to engineer and began recording his catalogue.

In 2009 A.Tone Da Priest released Still A Rapper Part 1, a mixtape, self-hosted by his DJ moniker, “A.m.P.” It featured singles, “Features” and “Chipper Jones”, which both gained considerable attention on his YouTube channel. This mixtape includes 25 tracks. That same year, he released Just An Exercise… A promotional LP made available through free download with 14 tracks.

Throughout 2010 A.Tone released Hollywood’s Dream State, Sean Spellz’s Greatest of the Latest, and Mikah’s GA State of Mind all mixtape’s hosted by A.m.P. On The Verbal Architect’s Fantastically Classic he was featured on “Flyest of the Fly”. At the end of 2010 he dropped 16, a mixtape with 16 verses on 16 beats, and a bonus “100 Bars” over ten combined classic beats. This tape has 17 tracks.

In 2011 A.Tone Da Priest teamed up with Midwest producer Steve Hybicki to create The Address EP. The single “Sinful” has an animated video which was created by A.Tone Da Priest himself. On September 10th, 2011 it was announced on dapriestmuzik.com that Stand By My Words would be released on the 30th of the same month. “A Problem”, “Jacksons Grants & Franklins” and “I Will Not Stop”, all have viral videos with several views.