The WRLDFMS Tony Williams
Williams in 2006
Background information
Also known as	Penafire the World Famous Tony Williams
Born	Antony Von Williams[1] Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Origin	Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
Genres	R&B hip hop soul gospel
Occupations	Singer songwriter record producer
Years active	2003–present
Labels	GOOD The High Society Uncle Pete's Parade
Member of	Sunday Service Choir
Management	David Bullock (2020–present)
Website	www.wrldfms.com

Antony Von Williams, known professionally asthe WRLDFMS Tony Williams, is an American singer and songwriter. Born inOklahoma City, Oklahoma, Williams is the first cousin of American rapperKanye West and has contributed vocals or songwriting to most of his albums, beginning withThe College Dropout (2004).^[2][3][4]

Williams grew up an only child inOklahoma City, Oklahoma. Both his mother and father had musical backgrounds, and Williams was given his first instrument, a saxophone, at the age of eight. He grew up singing in youth choirs at church and played in themarching band through his tenth grade year of high school. Williams love for music continued throughout his early adulthood as he went on to form several bands that ranged in style fromfunk, rock,alternative, andChristian alternative, and took on the role as lead vocalist. He is the cousin of American rapperKanye West.

Williams' name appears on Kanye West's albums as Tony "Penafire" Williams which is the pseudonym he uses when crediting himself as a writer. He was a co-writer of two songs onThe College Dropout, theGrammy Award winning 2004 album, following which Williams was invited to write for all of West's subsequent albums.

On the 2005MTV documentary,Composing HistoryThe Making ofLate Registration, he was featured producing vocals forBrandy on the song "Bring Me Down", which he co-wrote. During that documentary, West described Williams as being "a great writer with a cutting edge voice."^{[citation needed]}

Tony Williams first became noticed as a singer when he debuted on Kanye West's Grammy winning albumThe College Dropout, singing a version of the gospel hymn "I'll Fly Away". By the second album,Late Registration, Kanye was giving Williams shout outs on the song, "We Major" which gave rise to the line Kanye fans use in reference to Williams, "I gotta say what's up to Tony Williams". On that same album Tony wrote the hook for the song, "Roses", which featured him singing withPatti LaBelle. This album not only promoted Tony Williams name, but for the first time fans were able to match his voice and name with a face. He was featured on the song and the video for "Drive Slow". Later, he was seen singing with Kanye when West was featured on the MTV television series,Life and Rhymes of Kanye West.

By the time Kanye went on theTouch the Sky Tour, Williams was known as the background singer that always accompanied West, including on several world tours.^[5]

Williams is one of a few performers who have performed at two different Inaugural Balls;^{[clarification needed]} the Neighborhood Ball where he performed withJay-Z on the song "History", and the Youth Ball where he performed withKanye West. His voice is recognized on some popular Hip Hop songs, having performed with, for example, Jay-Z, Kanye West,Nas,the Game, andRick Ross.^[6]

In March 2010, Williams released his first mainstream project in the form of a mixtape,The World Famous Tony Williams:Finding Dakota Grey which was released with theGOOD Music stamp.^[7] This project was a collection of original music, covers, and remixes, including the "Dreaming of your love remix" with the French rapper Matt Moerdock.

In October 2010, Williams released his first single "Everything About You" from his debut studio album,King or the Fool, which was released on February 14, 2012.

The first time Williams experienced artistic autonomy was in 2007 when he made an appearance on Kanye'sCan't Tell Me Nothing mixtape, singing a song he had written and that was produced by West, "Dreaming of Your Love". This legitimized him as a featured artist. It was at that time that Williams added "The World Famous" to his name to differentiate himself from thefamous drummer with the same name, and because in the vocal sample of the song "Dreaming of Your Love" the intro says, "You're listening to the world famous". Williams has had songs played on Brazilian airwaves, where he sang some of the vocals inPortuguese, and some musical chart success in France.^{[citation needed]}

On January 13, 2025, West (Now known as "Ye") posted an image of him and Williams during the 2016 Yeezy Season 3 event on hisInstagram profile, confirming a possible collaboration between the two on West's twelfth studio allbum,Bully (2025).^[8] He appears on the leaked trackMission Control.

• Official website^{[dead link]}
• Tony Williams atAllMusic
• Tony Williams discography atDiscogs
• Tony Williams discography atMusicBrainz

• Kanye West
• Living people
• Singer-songwriters from Oklahoma
• Musicians from Oklahoma City
• American soul singers
• American hip-hop singers
• American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
• African-American male singer-songwriters
• American male singer-songwriters
• Record producers from Oklahoma
• American rhythm and blues musicians
• Grammy Award winners
• 21st-century African-American male singers
• 21st-century American male singers
• Songwriters from Oklahoma
• African-American songwriters
• Sunday Service Choir members

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• Year of birth missing (living people)