From accidentally finding his love for music to being nominated for Grammys – Tony Scales is a prodigy

When it comes to career choices, most people usually feel stuck at the kind of jobs they are doing. In fact, at some point in our lives, we have all come across people that claim to be unhappy about their professions. Such individuals are always seen complaining, ‘I wanted to be in a different profession but ended up doing this’. The sad part is that they weren’t able to pursue a career that they’re passionate about due to different circumstances. Research shows that only 20 percent of the world’s population love what they do. Among those handful of people is none other than Tony Scales, who is living his dream.American record producer and songwriter Tony Scales, professionally known as Chef Tone, is not only the best at what he does but also claims that he accidentally discovered his passion for music. “I would always sing off-key around the house, which would annoy my mother a ton. Later I started freestyling with my group of my friends, and I always seemed to have the most coherent thoughts,” Tony revealed.

Despite starting his musical journey from scratch with no formal music education, Tony Scales has collaborated with several renowned artists in the music industry. In fact, the music genius has managed to make his way to Grammy Music Awards, which is an accomplishment in itself. Back in 2009, Tony received his first Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album for his contributions to Trey Songz’s album, Ready. This is not all! He then received his second Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album in 2015 for contributing to Sean Paul’s Full Frequency album. So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Chef Tone is a prodigy when it comes to producing and writing songs.

From getting a keyboard from his grandmother Helen Brown for show & tell as a child, to joining forces with famous American Artists and producers R.Kelly and Jay Z, Tony Scales has surely come a long way. “I’ve had quite the journey, after experiencing the ‘Best of Both Worlds’ Tour, I left Chicago for Atlanta, where I released my first song, which went Top 10 on the Billboard R&B/HIP HOP Charts, for Plies, Jaime Foxx & The DREAM,” he shared. Moreover, he signed a one-of-a-kind deal with Atlantic Records, which resulted in collaborating with many popular musicians, including Drake, Nicki Minaj, Dr. Dre, and Justin Bieber, to name a few.

Recalling his past, Chef Tone shared that he went to Duke University with his cousin, Sean Dockery, Sean provided Tony with access to Cameron Indoor, where late at night Tony would practice shooting. On his late night shooting adventures, he met JJ Redick. After bumping into each other a few times at Cameron, Tony assisted JJ in his shooting routine nightly. JJ was focused on his routine, and Scales was observing the remarkable discipline JJ had on his way to breaking the ACC scoring records. “We became cool, close enough for him to take one of my rap songs and post it on his Myspace page. I learned a lot from observing him,” Tony stated.

With his music career at an all-time high, Chef Tone was quite content with everything, but was shocked when he was diagnosed with a Pituitary Adenoma. This was not an easy phase for him, and he suffered from excruciating headaches that disrupted his mental space. The trauma he experienced during that year was an eye-opener for him, leading Scales to spend a lot of time developing concepts in the Psychedelic Space for people going through similar psychological anxiety. And that is how Maejor Tripp came to being.

Scales co-founded Maejor Tripp with his close friend, Maejor, a music artist who is also a cancer survivor, to create awareness and ease the traumatic experience that people deal with mentally. Moreover, Chef Tone motivates people to never lose hope and have faith. “Believe in yourself because that’s where it all begins. Remember to be consistent even when you can’t find the motivation,” he concludes.