​Tony’s ‘Animated Persona’

“Animated Personas,” rapper Tony the Butcher’s first solo album, combines the energy and sound of his live shows with thoughtful, introspective tracks. Though it only took two years to record, Tony Motzerelli describes the album as 29 years in the making.

“Those tracks are about my life and growing up,” Tony told HPR.

Before moving to the Fargo-Moorhead area in 2006, Tony bounced around towns in South Dakota and Minnesota. It was in South Dakota where he first began rapping with friends.

“None of us really knew what we were doing or saying,” he said, “just having fun making words rhyme and making fun of each other.”

After going to meat-cutting school, Tony found work in Fargo as an actual butcher and became good friends with Fargo’s Kipp G after spitting verses for him at a party. Kipp G was impressed enough to bring Tony onstage with him at his next show and the two began performing together regularly.

“To us, it was just all about playing shows and having fun,” he said. “We played shows together for at least a year before I started recording anything.”

Admittedly, Tony said his style may have been a bit “whack,” describing his early raps as just “something to entertain my drunk friends.” But after some growing pains, Tony’s music became more insightful and he began developing his voice in hip-hop.

“I started growing up …” he said, “I started writing more songs about real life and it became more of a therapy for me and a way I could hash out my problems in my head. The party joints were still there. I just mixed in some stories about me that I thought would make good songs.”

One of the best examples of this includes his earlier crowd favorite, “Finally Moving,” describing it as “detailing a dark time and dark person in my life.”

Using his music as a release valve, Tony began collaborating with his friend Carson (known as DJ 8eProof), whom he met through mutual friends Soulcrate Music of South Dakota.

“He sent me a couple of beats that I wrote to and eventually we decided to make an entire album,” Tony said.

“Animated Personas,” was recorded in its entirety in the basement of Carson’s home, though the crisp and clean sound wouldn’t reflect the inexpensive means of production. In actuality the only hiccups with the album came logistically.

“We both live in different cities,” Tony said, “and are grown human beings and have things like jobs and kids and that made it difficult to get together.”

Had it not been for the distance and time it takes to travel, the album would have been released much sooner. Either way, Tony is especially proud of the album and its tracks.

With “Animated Personas” comes one of Tony’s most personal and lighter songs, “7 lbs 6,” a message to his son Bo.

“I think 7 lbs 6 took me the longest to write,” he said. “It means the most because it really made me think about what I wanted to say to my kid and what kind of advice I should give him to become a good man when he grows up … I’m sure I will have plenty more to tell him on future albums.”

Though Tony plans on traveling the area for shows to get his name out there, he maintains a certain affection for the cities that became the inspiration for many of his songs, including “My Neighborhood.”

“The main thing that I love about this city,” he said, “is that people love music in general. There is a show almost every night of the week and that’s important for the city and culture … People love playing shows in Fargo because we appreciate music and we show it.”

Tony’s release show will be Saturday, Aug. 9 at the aquarium and he will be joined by some of the area’s brightest hip-hop talent, including host Danny Eisenhauer of Soulcrate Music, HPR editor Diane Miller’s band D Mills and the Thrills, Mic Jordan, Dino Basic, Philly Fate and Aquafresh.

IF YOU GO:

Tony the Butcher’s “Animated Personas” release show

Sat, Aug. 9, 9:30 p.m.

The Aquarium, 226 Broadway

http://ow.ly/zG8EU