T.O. Tha Student

Thomas Owens also known as “T.O. Tha Student” was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. At the young age of 7-years-old he acknowledges his love for music. During that time Thomas would sit in his room and listen to old hip-hop tapes that his mom had sitting around the house. Which many of those tapes featured artist like Slick Rick. He fell in love with the way that Slick Rick would use storytelling, and his clever use of words in his music. At the age of 11-years-old, Thomas’s mother bought h...

Thomas Owens also known as “T.O. Tha Student” was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. At the young age of 7-years-old he acknowledges his love for music. During that time Thomas would sit in his room and listen to old hip-hop tapes that his mom had sitting around the house. Which many of those tapes featured artist like Slick Rick. He fell in love with the way that Slick Rick would use storytelling, and his clever use of words in his music. At the age of 11-years-old, Thomas’s mother bought him a keyboard. Almost immediately he fell in love with the sound of beats after countless nights of trying to master the keys. His most favorite memory in music is when he was 12-years-old and Flesh N’ Bone of the group “Bone Thugs N’ Harmony” freestyle for young Thomas live inside his home. As of that day he has been driven to do music. Thomas attended Glenville High School where he was a member of the Men’s Baseball Team. After graduation he received a baseball scholarship to Myers University where he played for two years. After his second year at Myers, he transferred to Cleveland State University where he joined Iota Phi Theta. During his fourth year of college he participated in a flag football game that turned into a day he would never forget. At some point in the game he shattered his entire left leg. This incident has encouraged Thomas to focus more on his music and studies because he was not able to play collegiate sports due to his devastating injury. While he began to recover from his injury he wrote and recorded his first mixtape entitled “Financial Aid” hosted by DJ Dav. In April 2010, Thomas joined Cleveland’s own upcoming independent label “Real Muzik”. Thomas says, over here at Real Muzik there are a lot of likeminded people who works hard to succeed in the music business. He says he plans to release his second project entitled “Real Genius: The Book of Greatness Ch. 1” late winter of 2011. This project will have features from Real Muzik’s own Chick Da Flyest, and Erika Kayne, Chris Da Kidd, and OpTiOnZ. Thomas has had numerous shows in the Ohio area. He has performed at the University of Toledo, Youngstown State University, Cleveland State University, Cleveland Club Dream, and Cleveland Club Life. His style of music is very different in the eyes of others because of his voice, delivery, and the way he use words to illustrate current events. Thomas uses his knowledge and vocabulary from college and the streets to create his unique sound. He says, “My best attribute is my word play. I really pay close attention to the words I use in my songs because I am an artist that likes for everything to make sense.” His favorite artist is Lupe Fiasco as of today. Thomas also stated that his best quality is listening. He say’s this because you tend to learn more when you listen. When he listens to music, he listens very closely to receive the message the artist is giving, and that’s how he wants others to listen to his music, closely.