Tone Montana
Tone Montana came up in Sacramento’s underground hip-hop culture, experimenting with rap as a teenager before finding his way into NorCal’s ’90s underground rave scene as a DJ, promoter and performer.
In 2000, he co-founded Hit Em Up Records’ commercial recording studio with Los Angeles producer and artist Da’ K.A.T. Inside Sacramento’s thriving underground music scene, he engineered sessions for artists including Brotha Lynch Hung, Suga-T, Keak da Sneak and Yukmouth. The studio became both business and education — in recording, production, artistry, relationships and the realities of carving out one’s own lane in music.
What followed was an uncommon path through nearly every side of music: recording studios, concert promotion, audio engineering, live sound, staging and lighting, stage management, talent coordination, performance, college and commercial radio. Montana served as an AES chapter president, interned with The Recording Academy and Suzanne Koga, longtime manager of Roberta Flack, aired live college radio on KSSU before then moving to CBS Radio at KZZO/NOW 100.5 - through promotions, programming, remote and studio broadcasting — eventually taking a turn on-air.
After a hiatus, Montana founded Shadow House Records, returning to release music with C-DUBB, Mistah F.A.B., San Quinn, Smigg Dirtee and The Gatlin — marking the next chapter of a story three decades in the making.
Tone Montana isn’t introducing himself. He’s continuing the story.
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