Local rapper brings a little flavor to Bronx barbershop
by Jon Minners

Some rappers claim to be a cut above the rest, but one Bronx performer has a unique way of proving it, bringing a brand new flavor in your ear––or at least around it and a little off the top to boot. 

Luis Anthony Torres, also known as Tony by his clientele or Tone Bone the Barber by those who hear his music, has taken the Bronx by storm with a new barbershop, Razor Flavor, and a brand new sound for the birthplace of hip hop. 

Located at 1705 Unionport Road, Razor Flavor is the new hot spot for those in the community looking to take part in probably the newest offshoot element of hip hop: the hip hop haircut, complete with the sharpness of the lines, sideburns, goatees and killer arches.

“Hip hop is a big part of my barbershop,” said Torres, 30, who opened the shop this past April after cutting hair since he was 11.  “We have a lot of hip hop magazines in the store, music playing; videos on the television.  I play instrumentals a lot of the time so the lyrics offend no one, but it is all hip hop.  They sit back and just enjoy the beats and we talk about who is hot right now, what people are wearing. It’s what the whole hip hop style is about and haircuts are a very important part of it.”

That ideology led to the name behind the store, which Torres credits to thinking up while he was penning a rap song.  “That’s why we call it Razor Flavor, cause when you walk in here, you are getting a Razor Flavor haircut; your haircuts come out sharp,” he explained.

Torres has been practicing to get that perfect style for his clientele for a number of years working on all kinds of hair and specializing in short haircuts.  Growing up in University Heights and now living in Baychester, Torres has traveled the Bronx, cutting hair wherever he could, but it all started as a child in his old West Tremont apartment. 

“My mother was a hairstylist since she was 19 and she is over 50 years old now doing hair replacement,” he said.  “I would use some of her equipment and I would wait in the barbershop to get my haircut and just watch to see how the barber worked.  I would then start messing around and practicing on other people.  A lot of the guys in the building didn’t have the money to get a haircut so they let me cut their hair for free.”

Torres soon discovered that he could make money off his newfound skill when his mother watched a line of people enter and exit the home all with the idea of getting a special haircut from Torres.  “She said, ‘You are going to have to start charging them,’” he recalled.  “Someone has to pay the electric bill, so I started charging $3 a haircut and they continued to come.  Everywhere I went and touched someone’s hair, that person comes right back and many of them have stuck with me forever.”

And Torres is high in demand.  In addition to cutting the hair of friends and clients, the hip hop barber has cut the hair of Q-Tip of the famed rap group A Tribe Called Quest; everyone but Sisqo from Dru Hill, Alan Houston of the New York Knicks and Rahzel the Godfather of Noize.  Torres was even flown out to cut the hair of Cuban Link during a video shoot, getting paid $400 for that perfect cut.  In addition to wanting to own a chain of hip hop Barbershops throughout the country, Torres hopes to be on call to cut more celebrity hair in the future. 

Of course, Torres may be a star one day himself, not just for his unique cuts in his shop, but for the unique cuts on his CD, combining gangsta rap with classic salsa for a totally new style that mixes an underground sound with a mainstream style and some Spanglish thrown in for good measure.  Rapping since the age of 14, listening to such acts as Brand Nubian, Tribe Called Quest, Lauryn Hill, De La Soul, KRS-One and Busta Rhymes, to name a few.  For the last six years, Tone Bone the Barber has been crafting his style at clubs throughout the city and even putting out a CD for his fans to listen to. 

 “I am creating a buzz in the industry and I am enjoying it,” he said.  “All I do, I enjoy doing.  Rapping and cutting hair.  If I didn’t enjoy doing it, I wouldn’t be doing it.  And when I am doing what I enjoy doing, I always show love to the Bronx.  It’s the birthplace of hip hop so wherever I perform, I make sure everyone knows I am from the Bronx.”

There are a number of tracks with shout outs to the Boogie Down.  Gangsta Tropicale comes correct and in addition to paying homage to his home, the CD comes equipped with great beats, very catchy hooks, a mixture of sex-laden, party anthem, proud and inspirational tracks, and some really good mixtures of languages within each song; the favorites being Boriqua, Roll With Me, Blaze That and Boriqua Bounce.  Latin Players Anthem is an especially catchy song being that it pays homage to Biggie and Bad Boy Entertainment.  Add another fun freestyle track into the mix and you have the makings of a pretty sharp CD, where just like his day job, each cut is better than the last.  Keep an ear out. 

For more on Torres’ rap career, check out www.t-weso.com for show dates, pictures and music.  “I’m your favorite barber,” assured Torres. “I’m your favorite barber’s favorite barber.”

For feedback, visit our message board or e-mail the author at mailto:jminners@g-pop.net.