Tone-X leaves Power 98 for BET

Photo by Moye

By Kia O. Moore (kia@mingleberry.com)

Anthony Besler, 41, better known as Tone-X, said goodbye to Power 98 on Friday, Oct. 16. He is moving on to the land of television to work for BET’s The Mo’Nique Show.

No Limit Larry and the Morning Maddhouse played a barrage of hilarious Tone-X radio moments to send off this member of the Maddhouse brethren. As the cast laughed and reminisced, listeners called in expressing how much they would miss their “Uncle Tone.” As the listeners spoke to Besler, many had a tremble in their voice as they said goodbye.

When the morning show wrapped, arms began to wrap around Besler’s neck as his co-works said teary eyed farewells. He hugged and shook hands with over a dozen people before exiting the recording rooming he had worked in for so long. He then walked to the waiting area to greet two fans who decided to come to the studio since they could not get through the Power 98 phone lines. He laughed and joked with them for a moment.  Then he thanked them for taking time to come to the studio while waving goodbye as they entered the elevator. He then walked over to me, extended his hand, smiled and said, “You must be the writer.” He lifted my computer bag from the floor and led me to a spot he felt would be nice and quiet: the control room.

Entering Tone-X’s New World

A desk lines a wall with a plexiglass window that looks into the radio station recording room. A programming board and rack of audio equipment sits at one end of the desk and a microphone sits at the other. He rolls a worn stool out from under the desk. The seat upholstering is busting at the seams as the yellow foam padding protrudes out of the corners. It may have been at the station as long as Besler. Power 98 listeners have heard his bass accented voice hum through their stereo speakers from 5:50 a.m. to 10 a.m. for over a decade.

Besler sits atop the stool. As the tape recorder starts, Besler’s right knee begins to rhythmically bob up and down. It is like his body is unconsciously keeping time as he squeezes one last interview into his schedule. Besler has only had a few days to wrap up his long lasting radio career, pack him and his family’s belongings and make arrangements for their big move to Atlanta, Ga. He has been hired as a network writer for The Mo’Nique Show, BET’s Atlanta based late night talk show. “I had a six day turnaround to leave something that I had been doing for 11 years and get prepared,” he explains.

Leaving behind the day-in and day-out lighthearted conversations with his radio family on the Morning Maddhouse is a little unnerving. To him, the only way he will make it in this unfamiliar land of television entertainment is to trust in God and  trust in himself. “I’m trying to really step out on faith and trying to believe in myself enough to walk away from something I have been doing for 11 years,” he says. 41-year-old Besler recognizes that he has been prepared for this new phase in his career for a while. “God’s time is different than ours. I would have needed and liked more time [than six days] to get myself together, but in God’s time…you are already together,” he says.

Pastor Charles E. Jacobs Jr. of Next Level Ministries knows that Besler is ready for this next phase in his life. Pastor Jacobs enters the control room, interrupting the interview, but he needs to say a few words to Besler before he leaves for Georgia. As Pastor Jacobs talks to Besler in a low steady voice, Besler’s leg stops shaking (which has been moving since the begining of the interview).

Pastor Jacobs tells Besler that he possesses strength and the ability to encourage others. Pastor Jacobs tells Besler that success is awaiting him in Georgia. Besler reveals to Pastor Jacobs that he cannot believe the wonderful text messages people are sending him. “It’s crazy, people tell you have been a blessing to them and you don’t even realize it,” Besler says.

Laughing his way to Success

Besler realized he was on a path to success in 1995. He won a comedy competition sponsored by Zima Clear Malt Liquor held at the Comedy Zone, then located on E. Independence Blvd. His first attempted at organized stand-up comedy landed him a new job and a chance to perform with established comedians. He was hired to host Comedy Zone’s “Freaky Tuesdays.” For two years he traveled back and forth from his hometown of Wilmington, N.C. to host the show.

In 1997 those weekly trips from Wilmington to Charlotte ended. In July 1997, Power 98 hired him. He joined the BJ Murphy and the Breakfast Brothers Morning Show cast. From then on the Queen City knew the voice of Anthony Besler as Tone-X. The Power 98 morning show line-up changed over the years but Besler was kept on the roster. He continued to contribute his message-laced comedy to No Limit Larry and the Morning Maddhouse. In April 2008 he began Tone X and Friends, which became a nightlife hot spot. Charlotte residents flocked to the comedy show to hear comics that kept them clutching their belly.

As of October 16, 2009, the radio chapter of  Besler’s career has ended. His mind is now focused on The Mo’Nique Show. “Making moves in your life is just like space and time,” he says. He points to an object lying on the table. “You see that notebook you got sitting on the desk. It is occupying a space. Nothing else can go there until you move that notebook. Even when you move the notebook you got to put it somewhere else.” He continues, “The only thing that makes sense is to put it somewhere where there is some space—so my career is like that notebook. I got to move from Power 98 to another space in order to go into the next phase [of my career].”

Mainstream Stardom with The Mo’Nique Show

Besler says that he always knew this mainstream recognition was right around the corner, but he never knew when right around the corner was. He says his new tagline will read, “I’m one of the funniest comedians you should have known sooner.” Comedienne Mo’Nique has known just how funny Besler was for quite awhile. They have known each for 18 years.

She informed Besler that she had a TV show in the works and wanted him to be a part of it. Besler didn’t think it would turn into a real job. “In the entertainment world people say thing like that all the time in passing,” he explains.  When Mo’Nique had the BET deal ready, she offered Besler a job as a scriptwriter. “I didn’t know how to feel, but I thought it was the best thing in the world [that happened to me],” he says.

With television he feels his educational/entertaining comedy will reach more people at once. “The beautiful thing about television is you never know how many people are watching you and where they are watching you. With The Mo’nique Show you’re talkin’ ’bout the Caribbean, Japan, Africa. It’s worldwide,” he says. For him, being a behind-the-scene guy is just as satisfying as being the person out front. “It feels good when you are sitting and watching the show and you recognize a line you came up with or a concept that your writing team put together,” he says.

The Mo’Nique Show is not limiting Besler to scriptwriting. He is on-air talent too. From time to time Besler will do skits, play characters, and act as a man-on-the-street liaison. Recently he represented The Mo’Nique Show as the red carpet consultant for the 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards. Besler says a chance to be on the red carpet made work feel like play. “You are out there interacting with all the kats you listen to on the radio!” He chatted with Snoop, Ice Cube, Sheree from Real Housewives of Atlanta and the list goes on. That experience made Besler understand the flashback stories so many successful people recount. “Last year I was asking Power 98, ‘Can I go to the BET Hip Hop Awards with No Limit?’ They were like, ‘We can’t pay for it, but you can go.’ And now I’m working the red carpet for The Mo’Nique Show,” he recalls.

Besler knows that the move to BET is the next level in his career, but he feels that it is NOT the final level. “It’s [BET] a beautiful thing and it’s big. But it is not as big as it can get,” he says. Besler explains, “If you are trying to find Tone-X, your neck is gonna get tired because you’re gonna have to look up. When I say up, I’m not talking where the planes are at. I mean where the space shuttle is…where the satellites are at… You wanna visit me? Go to the space station.”

Living the Pop Life

Kia O. Moore

Pop Life is a social networking event that showcases eclectic soul music on a weekly basis. It occurs every Wednesday after 6 P.M. at Apostrophe Lounge, an upscale bar located at 1440 South Tryon. Pop Life is an event that allows people to search for money, sex or that pop to make their lives a little more interesting.

It is the creative spawn of Carlton Hargro and Mike Kitchen. Hargro is the current editor and chief of Creative Loafing Charlotte. Kitchen, better known as Kitch, is the owner of the soul music promotion company Sol Kitchen.

According to Hargro, Pop Life is a classic case of the event theory. Hargro says that every event is really about sex or money. “People come to try to increase their money, or try to find somebody to have sex with. We [Pop Life] do both. And it might be the same person.” Sex and money may be the underline objectives of Pop Life, but the main goal is to provide  a different type of Charlotte nightlife experience.

Back in 2000, Kitch and a partner already had an event like Pop Life going.  “Flirt Wednesdays was an after-work event that played no mainstream music. Just like we do here [at Pop Life].” Kitch and his partner eventually ran into creative differences. Fast forward to May 2007; Kitch found Hargro to be a great partner to bring an event like Flirt Wednesdays back. The two shared the same views when it came to soul music and Charlotte nightlife. Flirt became Pop Life’s blueprint.

The idea of Pop Life emerged during a conversation between Kitch and Hargro.  Hargro expressed his desire to bring something different to Charlotte.  He wanted to create an event that served the public regular helpings of soul music. Hargro was use to hearing good soul music on a dailay basis before moving to Charlotte in 2006. “In Atlanta you could hear soul music every single day. You can go to any little, raggedy establishment and they’re playing incredible music and it has a great mix of people.” A week before Hargro’s moved, he was introduced to Kitch.  Hargro says, “When I came down Mike took me under his wing and showed me all around Charlotte.” Hargro  instantly noticed the lack of soul music nightlife events.

Kitch and Hargro decide that they would be the ones to create an event that regularly exposed Charlotte dwellers to alternative soul music. When creating Pop Life, the two wanted it to have a name that was different. ”The named Pop Life is suppose to be a satire about Charlotte’s nightlife,” Kitch explained. He feels that Charlotte nightlife mainly caters to individuals interested in being part of popular culture. “It [Pop Life] is making fun of popular culture. Everything you see here is not popular culture.”

Hargro gives an additional reason for the events name. Hargro says the song by Prince titled ”Pop Life” inspired the events name too.  He explains, “There was a line in the song that says, ‘Life ain’t very funky unless you got that pop.’”  This line describes people that need that extra something to make their lives more interesting.

Pop Life is an event that changes venues as often as Prince changes his image.  Hargro and Kitch feel each venue shows a different side of Pop Life.  “When it was at PreVue, it had more of a dance feel. When it was at Loft, it was a little more expansive. It was bigger and people could go outside. Now here [at Apostrophe] it’s a little loungier and a little more intimate,” says Hargro.

Jimmy and Myk have attended Pop Life since it began, back in May 2007. Myk feels that Pop Life has transitioned from Charlotte undeground status  to Charlotte pop culture status.  Myk says, “Now it’s changing up. It is growing in a good way and it’s growing in a bad way too. People are not really trying to dance. They’re not trying to have fun, as we [Jimmy and I] would say fun. People are worried about what they look like and not really trying to sweat. I think that kinda is a problem.”

Jimmy agrees. “When it was at PreVue, it was more of a mix of people. You got the urban professional, you know, the grown & sexy people, and at the same time you got the people that were just there to have a good time, like the b-boys [breakdancers].” Jimmy feels that Pop Life no longer has the kaleidoscope of personalities it once did. Jimmy thinks the event is now geared toward “urban professionals.”

Jimmy’s perception of  Pop Life’s “urban professionals” target market is somewhat correct. Kitch, however, uses the term loosely when describing the attendees.  Kitch hates the term urban professional. “If you work and know how to conduct yourself, you’re a professional.” Kitch says that Pop Life’s target market is open minded people, no matter their background.

Hargro says Pop Life is a place to provide all people a “shelter from the mundane BET ‘106 & Park’ bulls**t and MTV crap.” Jimmy’s view of Pop Life’s contradicts the anti-mainstream theme. He describes Pop Life as becoming a more mainstream nightlife event. He says people who attend mainstream events rely on MTV and BET to define their culture. “Pop Life is trying to expose people to another type of culture of: art, music, dress and so forth,” says Kitch.

The question: Is Pop Life mainstream Charlotte nightlife or not?

It is up to those who attend Pop Life to decide.