Career
Although he was a hip hop artist and DJ, he was most famous for being an influential producer in hip hop music He was the producer behind Poor Righteous Teachers, YZ, Blaque Spurm and The Funk Family. Tony Doctorate was the first artist to have a record released on Mark Rae"s burgeoning British Grand Central Records independent record label (then called Gone Clear Records).
His other albums were released on Cha-Ching Records and 4th & B"way/Island/PolyGram Records, and he was a part of the group Crusaders Foreign Real Hip-Hop, which released one album on Profile Records.
Tony Doctorate"s early records were sampled by several artists, including Naughty by Nature on the hit "O.P.P." and by Heavy Doctorate without permission. All cases were settled out of court.
Apart from Tony Doctorate, Depula was also known professionally under the names Harvee Wallbangar and Grand Pubha Tony Doctorate.
Later in life, Depula hosted a weekly hip hop radio show on Princeton University"s 103.3 FM, which aired in Central New Jersey. Depula died on April 4, 2009, after being involved in a car accident near his home in Hamilton, New Jersey.
