The Natural Talent of Tonic G Musik

  By Onica Dick (The Poetess Neki)

Pic 1. Tonic G 

Photo Credit -Rambo

As a child I aspired to be an artiste; music is an upliftment which makes me happy; every time I sing, I always feel happy" - Tonic G

Shirmatt Matthias Matthew 'Tonic G' Robinson comes from a musically inclined family and is accustomed to musical instruments such as drums, guitars and even the tambourine. The 32-year-old who was born on October 29 grew up in Bagatelle, Tobago and has one brother. He is a past pupil of the Scarborough Seventh Day Adventist Primary and the Signal Hill Comprehensive School. He remembers his favourite teacher Miss Manswell at high school who was his Form Mistress. Tonic G wanted to be a fireman as a child but certain family  restrictions, religious belief and other reasons did not allow for the fulfillment of his dream.

His favourite childhood memories from high school include participation in beatbox/freestyle activities with fellow peers like Kaspa Di Lyrical, Moon, KD and Gabriel aka Bread. Activities such as football and going to the beach were always part of his routine. His inspiration to become an artiste comes from the fact that since he was small, he has always liked music. 

As he said, "Coming out of a musical family, I am the first keyboardist, I can play clarinet, trap set and the tambourine. I was also a member of the Boys Brigade for about three years, and I played the tuba, keyboard and the euphonium. It was indeed a fantastic experience at the time, because we got to travel to places, go camping and play for shows. Even more exciting was doing things for the youth, the sports days and being on the road every Independence Day with instruments in hand and playing all the fantastic songs that we had practiced and learned."

Tonic G had the experience of playing with a gospel band under the leadership of Audril Phillips at the Scarborough Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church. He mostly played the clarinet, trumpet and flute. Prior to 2020, he participated in a freestyle/singing competition held at the Calder Hall Community Centre and won. I asked him about his choice of artiste name. 

Photos 2 and 3. - A bit of Tonic G

He replied, "My first artiste name was St Splyce. I chose it because I am energetic, like to entertain people, make them laugh, make them feel a vibes, happiness, jovial expression. However, I had friends who often questioned why I chose the name St Splyce. My vibes was different, just like in soca where most times it is about drinking rum and having a good time. Another artiste by the name of Chigga Music who always looked out for me from long time; he used to assist me with music videos. The first one, I am grateful for that, but he kept saying, you really like that stage name, how would you feel if someone comes and asks you about that name? He said, we have to change that name. He suggested Tonic G Musik, so I agreed to change the name because is real vibes. A good tonic G, good idea. He was the mastermind behind my new name, and I fully appreciate that because in everything I do, I try to outreach to people; I am not selfish."

The artiste who focuses on the genres of Dancehall, Reggae and recently soca has recorded about ten songs thus far. His first release 'Million Dollar Dream'
 was done in 2019 at the recording studio of Gemini Records. He shares some of the lyrics with me.
"MDD mek me get smart, Android with Facebook and Whatsapp, Digicel Play, now di gyal dem like that,
Pon di streets, and ah dress back, with ah loud in mi mouth as soon as ah spark dat,
Sweet gyal ah pass and mi mouth drop, monkey and Pato, ah di zess dawg,
And cali pon di scene, and nobody cah stop dat because of money"

Another one of his songs, 'True Happiness' which he collaborated with another Tobago artiste KD, states 

"Humble as I am, make me understand,
Why ghetto youth ha fuh suffer till they dead,
Why the system always have a problem,
Parents and children cah even eat bread, friend ah kill friend,
Badmind nuh like mankind, yow dem ah heathen,
Mi nuh like man so mi nah study friend,
Work fuh weh mi wah so mi ha money to spend,
Meditation it lodge inna mi head..
Chorus: Thank God fuh life, yuh know that's di greatest thing
Money ah di code, man ha fuh be hustling
People will talk about you,like if you are the worst thing,
True happiness in life, come like success,
Like picni and wife"

Video 1 -Tonic G featuring KD believes in True Happiness 

The independent artiste who writes his own songs is on a mission to create a local and global impact.
"Locally, I don't really want to be the best as there are so many artistes out there. However I want to get a message across to the people. We are living in more difficult times, money problems etc. I want to motivate people to channel their minds to get better and encourage people not to engage in crime, murder etc.
Globally, I want everyone to love my music. I intend to become the Musical PM to form an alliance with other artistes and to get a different message across for the love and the connection of music. It is also my intention to create a unique sound different from what others know; everywhere people will appreciate the content and the harmony.

He finds inspiration from Jamaican artiste Teejay. "There are so many other artistes, but Teejay inspires me the most in terms of how I sing." He has not experienced performances in big concert events, but he has performed at church services, weddings and funerals.
He also reveals, "I was once a part of Baby Thorne Productions singing at hotels. The experience was very exciting, interesting and we usually got favourable responses from the audience. Recently, there were people who asked why I am no longer singing with the productions."

Every time he records songs, Tonic G explains that for him it is like a different personality singing and his voice changes. He says in terms of singing to others there is a brighter impact, and he is able to get encouragement from others along with motivation to keep doing what he is doing and to never stop and don't give up.
I asked him about the challenges now faces as an artiste. He expressed that "I need more exposure, links, management, someone to help me boost my career to a point where I can do my own productions etc. I have to start to engage in profitability; I need increased shows, a production team, where everyone can look and represent well."

However, he is of the opinion that he needs to improve his vocal training and personal appearance. He aspires to collaborate locally with artistes like Prince Swanny and Jahllano while on a global level he is looking at artistes such as Russian, Popcaan, Jahmiel, Teejay and even the world boss Vybz Kartel. He also has interests in doing productions with DJ Khaled.

Tonic G has high hopes for himself as an artiste. "In five-years' time I want to be one of the best artistes in Tobago, singing soca and dancehall, hopefully to write reggae and R&B. He has plans to throw his hat in the ring for this year's Tobago Carnival Tobago Soca Titans competition. His song, 'My Carnival' has already been released on YouTube. He shares some of the lyrics with me.
"Ay ay, this is my carnival, Is Tonic G Music, wine up da bumper gyal,
Its carnival morning and I come out to play,
And leave my worries and stress home so I could jam whole day,
From January to December, ah working hard whole year,
But carnival is mine just to wine and have a good time,
Chorus (twice): Carnival is my time,
Carnival is mine now
See the gyal dem loose now
If yuh see the gyal  wine up on me
(If yuh see the gyal  in Jade Monkey)"
He further stated, "If I get through the finals, I want to give a full performance like Machel Montano, The Monk, the boss himself."

Video 2 -Tonic G is ready for the Tobago Soca Titans with 'My Carnival'

He has advice for others who want to get into music as artistes.

"If you want to be an entertainer, you have to be willing, strong, committed and responsible. Most artistes will tell you they started off by themselves and how it wasn't easy trying to reach out to people. Everyone has their own struggle, you have to be willing to do things on your own first before seeking the assistance of others; pursue the right things and not the wrong things because if you go into music and you pursue the wrong things then you won't live long."

He elaborates more, "For e.g. when KMan came out, so many other artistes came out. It is not even about the gangs; music has a special influence. It is like second in command to money; people can't do without it. We use it for inspiration; music influences us either positively or negatively. 

As long as you have music by your side you feel empowered, majestic. You ever watch someone, different people with headphones in their ears and they may appear mad, it is the empowerment of the music and how it makes them feel, like a superstar, hero etc.

 

When you go on YouTube and you see how artistes indulge in music on a daily basis it gives you the feeling that you can do the same thing too. You can study them to improve yourself and do better.
That is how I want to represent music; I always listen to music, and I want to slightly pull away from the norm but still make it sound normal at the same time. For e.g. 'Get the Money' is a song where it represents ghetto vibes, but the words have a message telling you about the friends that you keep and, they are against you when they feel you try to be better than them but in essence you are seeking to just be You. 

In real life sometimes out here you can't trust others, sometimes when you listen to others it is always about them, but it is really about you, bringing out the inner person so that people could feel the real you. 'Get the Money' represents that part of my life where people are quick to judge; sometimes you try to be there for somebody in a respectable, true way and they will try to bad-mouth you, envy you, laugh and mock you."

                                                       

Video 3 -Tonic G reveals how to Get The Money 

His opinion about the music industry in Trinidad and Tobago is that we have some very legitimate, good music, very productive artistes, very talented citizens, all they need is a 'reach out'. 

"Not everyone can be like Tonic G, Shanko, TamTam, Num Num. To each his own. Sometimes there are those in closets, they don't know how to come out, they have the talent, I have given advice to at least two artistes to motivate them forward. Everyone has different vibes or even adrenalin in their music. J-Impress and I-hana have come to me, asked me for my opinion on their music based on my musical skills. In music you need to sing but sometimes it is not always about the singing, you have to put energy and vibes."

Video 4 -Tonic G shares another song that is unreleased- Money Scheme 

 The artiste can be found on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok as Tonic G Musik.

Video 5 -Thank you Tonic G for Bloggin With Neki