Tony Sunshine, the famed singer/rapper from Fat Joe‘s Terror Squad, is proving that Hip-Hop collaborations can still happen across generational and ideological lines.
During a recent interview with AllHipHop, the Terror Squad affiliate revealed how his new single “Pump It Up” featuring Lil Pump came together organically through a shared fitness connection rather than industry politics.
According to Tony, the collaboration started unexpectedly through a mutual trainer.
“We go to the same gym. We have the same fitness trainer,” Sunshine told AllHipHop. “He came to me with a beat one day and I knocked out a hook and a verse. I didn’t even know he was going to give it to Lil Pump.” The official video for “Pump It Up” also displays a gym motif.
Sunshine explained that while the two artists were familiar with each other from seeing one another at the gym, they did not initially have a close personal relationship.
“Me and Lil Pump, we bump heads in the gym—we say what’s up and talk—but we didn’t have a real personal relationship like that,” he said. “That came later.”
After Pump added his verse, Sunshine said he returned to the studio to finalize the record.
“He laid his verse, they gave it back to me, I put it together and it sounded crazy,” Sunshine said. “We just decided to unite both worlds—his era and my era—and create energy.”
The collaboration may raise eyebrows among some fans due to Lil Pump’s public support of Donald Trump, but Sunshine made it clear that he does not allow political differences to interfere with his music or personal relationships.
“A man’s opinion and what he does with his life don’t affect me,” Sunshine said. “I mind my business. I got my opinion, he got his. At the end of the day, what he eats don’t make me sh#t and what I eat don’t make him sh#t.”
When asked directly about his own political views, Sunshine was candid about his focus on self-reliance rather than party affiliation.
“If I’m going to be blunt and honest, I don’t give a sh#t,” he said. “Nobody pays my bills. I’m the one that’s got to go out there and grind, work and make sure my family is good.”
Tony Sunshine is best known for his smooth hooks that helped define TS’s late-’90s and early-2000s run. Closely associated with both Big Pun and Fat Joe, Sunshine contributed memorable vocals to classics like “100%,” “Still Not A Player,” and still performs with Fat Joe currently. Over the years, he has remained a respected voice in Hip-Hop and R&B, balancing solo releases with continued collaborations while representing the legacy of the Bronx and the enduring impact of Terror Squad’s golden era.
He says this new collaboration was driven by music and positive energy, nothing controversial.
“I was just having fun,” he said. “Sometimes you just gotta let the world give their opinion. Whatever it does, I’m proud of the body of work.”
The single is part of a busy period for Sunshine, who also revealed he is preparing to release an R&B mixtape and a Spanish-language album while continuing to perform with Fat Joe and Terror Squad.
Despite the changing landscape of Hip-Hop, Sunshine says his approach remains simple.
“I’ve been the same artist the entire time,” he said. “I never switched up who I am or compromised my music for nobody.”
Stay tuned for AllHipHop’s full conversation between Tony Sunshine and AHH’s Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur.