Early Life

 

DeVante Eugene Jones (born August 25th, 1992), known as Von Tae (often stylized VON TAE), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He first garnered attention on social media after his controversial single "Contagious" went viral under a J. Cole tweet on Twitter in 2019. Along with being featured by various media outlets including Jet Magazine, he has also received praise from Industry veterans such as Senior A&R Earl Johnson from Jay Z's Roc Nation record label, actress and comedy legend Luenell, Kandi Burruss from the iconic 90's R&B girl group Xscape and many more.

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Von Tae was born in Calvert County, Maryland. He is one of six children and the son of Gladys Lake and Scottwyn Plater. His mother Gladys, who worked various jobs, was also a tobacco farm worker at the Lewis Farm in Owings Maryland and his father was a local architect. Due to unfortunate circumstances, in July 2001 Von Tae was relocated from his mother to a nearby foster home alongside his three younger siblings, April Jones, Darnell Long and Elaine Long. Raised by Sylvia and Charles Booth, he was surrounded by gospel music and spent most of his formative years attending church and building his faith in God. He attended Sunderland Elementary School and after being suggested by his foster mother, he decided to join the school band and played multiple instruments including the recorder, clarinet, saxophone and flute. During frequent visits with his family, Von Tae became a fan of R&B/Soul and HipHop music from artists that still remain an influence in his own music. Artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Usher, Missy Elliott and Luther Vandross are a few that he says helped him discover his passion for singing and entertaining.

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In 2007, alongside his sister April, the two formed a dance group managed by their cousin Patrice called "K-Crew" which was named after the street (Kent Road) their family grew up on. The two danced in talent shows and other local events and developed quite a name for themselves in their town. Von Tae later joined a non profit dance team called Dance Empowerment, which started in Fresno California by Wayne Hurley who was a background dancer for Kevin Federline.

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In 2011, after Von Tae graduated Great Mills High School he discovered his passion for writing and recording music from a classmate who helped him put together his first recording project. While in the process of writing and recording, The County Times local newspaper decided to feature Von Tae and talk about his creative process as a new artist.

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Career

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2012–2017: Early mixtapes and recordings

 

In January 2012, Von Tae released his first recorded project titled Broken Boundaries of Existence. It was a heartfelt mixture of love and heartbreak which was co-written and recording with his friend Terri who gave Von Tae his first set of recording equipment. The first single "We Gonna Party" was released on Soundcloud followed by other singles including "Top of the World", "Yeah We Chillin" and others.

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In January 2014, My Own Religion was a follow up released on Soundcloud that showcased a different side of Von Tae. He included music with rock elements such as "Natural Born Sinner" that expressed his rebellion against perfection and the opinions of others who critiqued his lifestyle choices and music.

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In July 2015, Von Tae decided to take a break from singing and wanted to showcase his lyrical and rap ability by releasing his first mixtape #VONTAETAKEOVER (Volume 1) which included remixes to fan favorites such as Chris Brown's "Loyal", Missy Elliott "She's A Bitch" and Rae Sremmurd and Nicki Minaj's "Throw Some Mo." HipHop journalists at Respect Magazine featured Von Tae's mixtape as well as premiered the visual to "Hunnit Bandz", which was the first single from his 2017 EP, Young Man Ambition.

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2019–2021: Note to Self (Album)

 

In 2019, after quitting his job, Von Tae auditioned for American Idol but didn't make it through to the live TV rounds. He also auditioned for P. Diddy and MTV's reboot of Making The Band but soon after the COVID pandemic halted production after making it past auditions. After a few months of frustration and trying to figure out how to elevate his career, he decided to move to Atlanta and pursue his music career full-time. After a few months, he left Atlanta and relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina where he started filming more content, releasing new music and networking to build his audience. He began releasing covers that started to catch the attention of various celebrities including Keyshia Cole, R&B singer Tank and comedian Jess Hilarious who awarded Von Tae during her Temptations "Silent Night" singing contest on Instagram.

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After the global uproar behind George Floyd's murder, Von Tae felt inspired to write his next single "Contagious" which went viral on Twitter and became his most streamed song from his catalog.[16] He also had the opportunity to perform for Senior A&R Earl Johnson from Jay Z's Roc Nation label and previewing new music from his upcoming album. 

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In 2020, Von Tae released his long awaited album Note to Self which is his first release to be available on streaming platforms. Note to Self was released through his independent label 6820 Entertainment. With an overwhelming response to his lyrical content, media outlets began to praise him for songs such as "Love Games", "On God" and "Beauty" that remain his most streamed tracks from the album.

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2022–Current: Upcoming EP, Album & Tour

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As of September 2022, Von Tae has been promoting his new EP, "On God: Single & Remixes" that released on September 16th, 2022. He has been working on a follow up album with plans set for an early 2023 release.

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Film

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Von Tae has played extra roles in Tyler Perry's "The Haves and Have Nots" (2019) and Seth Rogen's "An American Pickle" (2020)

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Personal Life

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Von Tae is a very faith driven individual. He has a heart of gold and loves to spend time with family and friends. He is also very vocal when it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement as he's written many songs expressing his thoughts and frustrations with racism. Von Tae plans to do more philanthropy work in the near future by assisting charities in volunteer work and also starting a foundation of his own for homelessness and foster children.

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