Tone Capone, the Bay Area producer behind one of rap’s most recognizable records, has died at 59.
KQED reported that close family members announced his death after he died Saturday. A cause of death had not been made public at the time of reporting.
For a lot of listeners, the first record attached to his name will always be the Luniz’ “I Got 5 On It.”
His production story was much bigger than one song.
‘I Got 5 On It’ carried a Bay Area sound around the world
Tone Capone built the beat after the Luniz brought an early version of the song to his house. Mike Marshall developed the hook melody, and the finished record became a Bay Area hit before breaking nationally.
The song reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and kept living long after its original 1995 run.
Decades later, Jordan Peele’s Us used a slowed-down reworking of the beat, introducing the record’s core sound to another audience.
His reach went from Oakland to Houston
Capone’s catalog connected multiple regional rap worlds.
In the Bay, he produced records for artists including E-40, Mac Dre, 3xKrazy, Celly Cel and others.
His work also traveled south. After connecting with Scarface through Rap-A-Lot circles, Capone contributed across Scarface’s 1997 album The Untouchable, including “Smile,” the hit featuring one of 2Pac’s final recorded verses.
That connection shows how regional rap sounds moved long before the internet made every scene instantly visible.
Mac Dre was another major part of the catalog
Capone later worked closely with Mac Dre, producing records including “Fire,” “Not My Job” and “Genie of the Lamp.”
Those songs did not need national pop-radio exposure to become durable pieces of Bay Area rap history.
They lived because the scene kept them alive.
The producer was part of the history, not background to it
Hip-hop history often remembers the voice first and the beat second.
Tone Capone’s catalog is a reminder that producers carry regional identity too.
From “I Got 5 On It” to Scarface and Mac Dre, his work helped connect records, cities and generations that still sound familiar years later.
