TONY GREEN... former Dramatics member.
“I’m not a musician. I’m a bass player who loves music. And I’m a hell of a bass player!”
T. Money Green
The Beginning
Born Edward Anthony Green (Tony Green), T. Money Green, a native Detroiter, began his music career at the age of only 14. He picked up the bass, strummed a few chords, and it was love at first listen. The bass became his healer, his motivator, and eventually the key that would change the course of his life.
So... how did a member of the Dramatics, a guy from Detroit end up working with Dr Dre? Well the story goes like this....
After an exhilarating 20 years, Green was burnt out and made the decision to leave The Dramatics. With no plan in place, Green found himself “down in the dumps,” as he put it. “I really had no idea what the fukk I was going to do,” Green explained, “I never believed that I was done. My only thought was, ‘what’s next?’ I’m not a musician. I’m a bass player who loves music. And I’m a hell of a bass player!”
A glimpse of opportunity came his way when he was asked to manage and develop the music career of David Ruffin Jr., the son of the late David Ruffin, from The Temptations. Ruffin was a young singer and T. Money willingly took on the challenge. “During that time, I could hide behind David until I figured out what I was going to do next.”
David Ruffin Jr
Working with David presented another set of issues. David was young and had his own agenda. With countless hours in the studio with David, T. Money soon discovered a new sound that had David, along with the rest of his generation, in a frenzy. “David was a fan of Dr. Dre, and would sit and listen to rap all day long.
I did not come from that genre of music. I came from a genre that had lyrics professing love and romance. So I could not relate to it. My head was spinning with my issues and with how I was going to get [David’s] career off the ground. I couldn’t grasp onto anything at that time. The loud rap music distracted me from getting my thoughts in order. I was struggling to make sense of everything around me. I would tell David to ‘shut that shyt off!’ It was a fukking low time for me.”
Twist of Fate
One of the final shows Green played with The Dramatics was a gig he booked in California. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Green decided to let David open the show with a few songs. That decision turned out to be a game changer for the careers of both T. Money and David. David’s music had such a huge impact on a woman in the audience that she contacted T. Money several days later.
She invited them back to California and offered to help with their music careers by connecting them to the “who’s who” in the California music biz. Green was flattered with the offer but reluctant to return because of a lack of money and time. Proving how serious she was, the woman sent Green a $2000 gas card to help with travel expenses. T. Money and David packed up their bright green, rusted out Impala and headed to California. “It was a long drive. After seventeen hours of listening to rap music, the shyt started to grow on me,” laughs Green.
Fate Takes its Course
After T. Money and David settled in from the exhausting road trip, the woman who lured them back to Cali made good on her promise. She took them out to a club where the music gurus hung out. There they were introduced to a guy named Warren, who happened to be Dr. Dre’s brother. That encounter led to a meeting with Dre. Sparing them the embarrassment of taking their own car, the woman offered up her Mercedes Benz for them to drive to Dre’s office. “We showed up for the meeting in someone else’s Mercedes and Dre pulls up right behind us driving the same exact Mercedes. Fake it till you make it!” jokes Green.
The meeting with Dr. Dre went better than Green could have imagined. Green began recording bass lines for Dre and many of his artists including Snoop Dogg, who has since become a good friend of T. Money. What was supposed to be a short trip to California ended up lasting about four years. It just so happened that the music Green thought he “couldn’t relate to” ended up being the music that raised the bar for his career.
Here's a Youtube interview video where Tony talks about coming up as a bass player in Detroit and he also plays some of the bassline he came up with... not replayed... these are basslines that he wrote for Dr Dre and Wannen G. The video is long so I dropped some time markers.
"I made a killin in rap... more the first year... then 20 years with the Dramatics" - Toney Green
00:15... Tony plays "Doggy Dogg World" bassline.
11:40... He talks about going from not wanting to hear "The Chronic" to loving it.
12:53... He talks about meeting Dr Dre for the first time.
15:05... He plays "Doggy Dogg World" again and talks a little more about it.
15:39... He talk about bringing George Clinton to Death Row and introducing George Clinton to Dr Dre.
17:32... He plays "Gin And Juice" bass line.
18:00... He plays and talks about coming up with the "Indo Smoke's" bassline for Warren G.
29:28... He talks a little more about coming up with the bass line for "Gin and Juice".
31:45... he talks about the first bassline he came up with for Dr Dre... Dogg Pounds - "N*ggas Don't Give A F*ck" from the "Poetic Justice" Soundtrack.
Detroit Bass Player "Tony Green" interview
Tony Green talks more about his time at Death Row in these video..
Tony Green On Tommy D , Suge Knight & Dr. Dre Part 1
Tony Green On Dr Dre Being Unhappy & Doggy Dogg World Part 2
Tony Green On Artists Beatdowns Daz Taking Credit & 2pac And Dre Beef Part 3
Tony Green On Dre's Actions During Snoop's Murder Trial & Gin And Juice Breakdown Part 4
Tony Green On Beef With CPO, A Close Call With Suge & 2pac Being Wack Part 5
“I’m not a musician. I’m a bass player who loves music. And I’m a hell of a bass player!”
T. Money Green
The Beginning
Born Edward Anthony Green (Tony Green), T. Money Green, a native Detroiter, began his music career at the age of only 14. He picked up the bass, strummed a few chords, and it was love at first listen. The bass became his healer, his motivator, and eventually the key that would change the course of his life.
So... how did a member of the Dramatics, a guy from Detroit end up working with Dr Dre? Well the story goes like this....
After an exhilarating 20 years, Green was burnt out and made the decision to leave The Dramatics. With no plan in place, Green found himself “down in the dumps,” as he put it. “I really had no idea what the fukk I was going to do,” Green explained, “I never believed that I was done. My only thought was, ‘what’s next?’ I’m not a musician. I’m a bass player who loves music. And I’m a hell of a bass player!”
A glimpse of opportunity came his way when he was asked to manage and develop the music career of David Ruffin Jr., the son of the late David Ruffin, from The Temptations. Ruffin was a young singer and T. Money willingly took on the challenge. “During that time, I could hide behind David until I figured out what I was going to do next.”
David Ruffin Jr
Working with David presented another set of issues. David was young and had his own agenda. With countless hours in the studio with David, T. Money soon discovered a new sound that had David, along with the rest of his generation, in a frenzy. “David was a fan of Dr. Dre, and would sit and listen to rap all day long.
I did not come from that genre of music. I came from a genre that had lyrics professing love and romance. So I could not relate to it. My head was spinning with my issues and with how I was going to get [David’s] career off the ground. I couldn’t grasp onto anything at that time. The loud rap music distracted me from getting my thoughts in order. I was struggling to make sense of everything around me. I would tell David to ‘shut that shyt off!’ It was a fukking low time for me.”
Twist of Fate
One of the final shows Green played with The Dramatics was a gig he booked in California. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Green decided to let David open the show with a few songs. That decision turned out to be a game changer for the careers of both T. Money and David. David’s music had such a huge impact on a woman in the audience that she contacted T. Money several days later.
She invited them back to California and offered to help with their music careers by connecting them to the “who’s who” in the California music biz. Green was flattered with the offer but reluctant to return because of a lack of money and time. Proving how serious she was, the woman sent Green a $2000 gas card to help with travel expenses. T. Money and David packed up their bright green, rusted out Impala and headed to California. “It was a long drive. After seventeen hours of listening to rap music, the shyt started to grow on me,” laughs Green.
Fate Takes its Course
After T. Money and David settled in from the exhausting road trip, the woman who lured them back to Cali made good on her promise. She took them out to a club where the music gurus hung out. There they were introduced to a guy named Warren, who happened to be Dr. Dre’s brother. That encounter led to a meeting with Dre. Sparing them the embarrassment of taking their own car, the woman offered up her Mercedes Benz for them to drive to Dre’s office. “We showed up for the meeting in someone else’s Mercedes and Dre pulls up right behind us driving the same exact Mercedes. Fake it till you make it!” jokes Green.
The meeting with Dr. Dre went better than Green could have imagined. Green began recording bass lines for Dre and many of his artists including Snoop Dogg, who has since become a good friend of T. Money. What was supposed to be a short trip to California ended up lasting about four years. It just so happened that the music Green thought he “couldn’t relate to” ended up being the music that raised the bar for his career.
Here's a Youtube interview video where Tony talks about coming up as a bass player in Detroit and he also plays some of the bassline he came up with... not replayed... these are basslines that he wrote for Dr Dre and Wannen G. The video is long so I dropped some time markers.
"I made a killin in rap... more the first year... then 20 years with the Dramatics" - Toney Green
00:15... Tony plays "Doggy Dogg World" bassline.
11:40... He talks about going from not wanting to hear "The Chronic" to loving it.
12:53... He talks about meeting Dr Dre for the first time.
15:05... He plays "Doggy Dogg World" again and talks a little more about it.
15:39... He talk about bringing George Clinton to Death Row and introducing George Clinton to Dr Dre.
17:32... He plays "Gin And Juice" bass line.
18:00... He plays and talks about coming up with the "Indo Smoke's" bassline for Warren G.
29:28... He talks a little more about coming up with the bass line for "Gin and Juice".
31:45... he talks about the first bassline he came up with for Dr Dre... Dogg Pounds - "N*ggas Don't Give A F*ck" from the "Poetic Justice" Soundtrack.
Detroit Bass Player "Tony Green" interview
Tony Green talks more about his time at Death Row in these video..
Tony Green On Tommy D , Suge Knight & Dr. Dre Part 1
Tony Green On Dr Dre Being Unhappy & Doggy Dogg World Part 2
Tony Green On Artists Beatdowns Daz Taking Credit & 2pac And Dre Beef Part 3
Tony Green On Dre's Actions During Snoop's Murder Trial & Gin And Juice Breakdown Part 4
Tony Green On Beef With CPO, A Close Call With Suge & 2pac Being Wack Part 5
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THIS nikka DRE DIDNT EVEN DO THE BASS LINES 
