He may be a decade older, and at least 10,000 more people are watching, but Antonio "Tony Sunshine" Cruz isn't doing anything new by getting New Jersey's Continental Airlines Arena to sing along with the Terror Squad."Baby, if you wit' it, just clap yo' hands/ Stop playin', girl, back that a-- up," Tony belts out, standing next to Fat Joe and filling in for Ginuwine at New York radio station Power 105.1's Powerhouse concert."I paid my dues for a long time," Tony said . As a teen, he used to open local shows for deceased Terror Squad rapper Big Pun.You could say that being down with Terror Squad was TONY'S destiny. Like all of the TS members, Tony grew up in the Bronx. There, he began singing at the age of 5. By the time he was 12, Tony knew he wanted to pursue a career in show business, especially after he witnessed Fat Joe ascend from being just a thug in their BX neighborhood to blossoming as a rapper."I seen Joe doing it at the beginning of his career, being down with the Digging in the Crates [crew], doing ['Showtime at] the Apollo,' " he remembered. "When I was about 12 or 13 years old, I stepped to him and was like, 'Yo, listen, I sing.' "Realizing the adolescent's potential, Joe took Tony under his wing, letting him tag along to shows and trying to secure a recording contract for the teen. Of course, back then Joey Crack's name didn't hold the weight it does today. Labels passed on his young protg.It wouldn't be until years later that Tony would graduate from tag-along status to full-fledged Terror Squad compatriot."I was away from the neighborhood for a while, trying to get myself together," Tony said. "I met up with Pun years later and he already had a couple of videos out. He was so happy to see me, he was like, 'Wow, where you been?' Next thing you know I was on four songs on Pun's [second] album. I went to the studio, started hanging out, and we started coming up with ideas together."One of the first meetings of the minds would be to find another moniker for Tony, who was then known as "R&B," short for "Rough Brother.""I'm always in a good mood. Always," Tony explained of the new stage name Pun came up with. "I'm always laughing, always joking. It takes a lot to make me angry."Smiles were hard to find on Tony's face in 2000, however, when he was leveled by Pun's death."He always pushed me. It was like he knew his time was coming," recalled Tony, who starred in the video for "100%" after Pun's fatal heart attack. "He was saying little subliminal things to me like 'Always keep going' and if something happens to him, to listen to Joe."After he passed away, it was hard," Tony continued. "It was like, 'What am I going to do now?' Joe was always there, [saying,] 'Don't worry about it, I got you.' He's always been behind me 100 percent."The husky wordsmith has already had Tony in the studio, recording a mixture of ballads and club stompers with producers Cool and Dre. There are also collaborations in the works with R. Kelly, Ginuwine, Fabolous and Capone-N-Noreaga.These days, though, Tony's enjoying his highest level of recognition by being in his boss' corner, singing on a handful of tracks from Joe's Loyalty, such as "TS Piece" and the current single, "All I Need.""This is my biggest song ever!" Joe said. "Tony's going to be huge.""I'm ready. I'm long overdue," Tony insisted. "Give me some elbow room. Can I get into the game already, please?"Judging by how the ladies at the Continental Airlines Arena swooned after hearing his vocals on "All I Need," Tony's already arrived.
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