From launching an independent label at Howard University in the 1990s to now managing some of the highest-grossing live shows nationwide, Tone Lopez — co-founder of HansTolo Enterprises — has climbed the notch in entertainment and music with sights set on domination.
Reigning alongside HansTolo co-founder Raphiki Rhodes, Lopez told The Informer pushing the needle of success is about discipline, focus and disrupting an industry flailing in cultural awareness.
“You come over to our side…you’ll see [people who aren’t from the communities we represent on tour] running our tours and our culture, and they don’t have a clue on what that is,” Lopez said. “[I’d like to see that] the industry becomes a little bit more diverse on all fronts— not only from the people running it behind the stages, but just from a music standpoint.”
That’s why the dynamic duo established HansTolo Enterprises in 2016, one of the leading tour and production management companies behind Chris Brown’s record-breaking Breezy Bowl XX Stadium World Tour, and currently running Brandy and Monica: The Boy Is Mine Tour, coming to the District’s Capital One Arena on Nov. 30.
As they prepare to take over Northwest D.C., the California natives represent more than Monica’s tour managers, but an example of what it means to set the tone of cultural preservation.
For Lopez, that looks like pouring into the culture that once raised him, while forging a new vision for the future of entertainment — “[and] hopefully we’re filthy rich when we walk out of here,” he jokingly adds.
Plus, the two hope to inspire others along the way.
“We saw the void in this industry with people like us— that come from where we come from, that kind of grew up like [we did]… [and realized] we can shine,” Rhodes explained. “We can excel, we could show them that we can do this at the highest level. That’s the mark we want to leave.”
Building the Rhodes to Tone the Industry
A product of Los Angeles culture, Lopez grew up with ties to the sounds of soca, calypso, soul and ska, lauding a deep investment in all aspects of Black culture that only catapulted as a witness to the elevation of hip-hop.
When he wasn’t digging into music samples, or watching famed groups perform back when they were underground, the entrepreneur was building a stock in artist management and cultural competence.
With a knack for organization and attention to detail, Lopez pursued a set of skills that would later bode well for HansTolo Enterprises.
“When I heard [rappers] Rakim and [KRS-ONE], guys like Public Enemy, the way it made me feel is like, ‘damn,’” Lopez told The Informer. “Music was always in my heart, I’ve just found a good feeling on the touring side because…you can build something from scratch, and then see it on stage, and you are a part of that execution. Whether you’re doing it for a 500 cap room, or a 50,000 cap stadium, they all give me the same exhilarating feeling.”
During the mid-’90s “Golden Era” of hip-hop, Compton native Rhodes climbed the ranks in DJing and radio, even launching the first commercial hip-hop/pop radio station in his college town of San Luis Obispo, as a student at California Polytechnic State University.
Meanwhile Lopez left the revered “Golden State” and immersed himself in the “hustle culture” of the formerly known Chocolate City, benefiting from an education beyond the classrooms of Howard University.
“Being at Howard, you sat on a hill where you could see every single thing,” Lopez recalled. “You could see touring, you could see music, you could see management, you could see people doing radio. I was exposed to all of it, and that was a really good time…to be around that.”
The communications major eventually established an independent label with a friend, adding it was “probably one of the best decisions” he made to attend college in D.C., fueled by the ability to frequent cultural hot spots in New York, while at the wheel of the city’s diversity and business exposure.
Soon after, Lopez was settling in his first gig as an official tour manager, creating a stamp that would lead to a “heaven-sent” collaboration with Rhodes.
“Everybody was doing it – hustle, network,” Lopez continued, “and I was doing all of that.”
Rhodes adds cultural authenticity is not only what brought the reckoning force together, but is deeply ingrained as a factor of the business. He cited the company’s culturally relevant merchandise — shouting out Lopez’s hidden eye for fashion coupled with his “good ear” keeping a pulse on the trends of the streets.
Additionally, the co-founders stressed the importance of prioritizing diversity in cultural spaces, highlighting a roundup of Latina, Asian, and Black women professionals across all departments of the HansTolo team.
“We believe in [this work], and we love it, and …we want to take our company to the next level,” Rhodes explained. “We have this cultural authenticity, because we didn’t just end up here. It’s almost like we were chosen.”
Reflections from ‘an OG’: Shaping the Future of An Industry
With the upcoming show in D.C. Sunday, Rhodes shared a day in the life of a tour manager can look like anything from handling logistics and press, to a constant loop of hotels, vehicles, walkthroughs, and simply being an active liaison for clients.
Lopez emphasized the importance of discipline and focus in an industry overcome with temptations, advising aspiring tour managers to remember the job and not “get caught up” in the elements that surround it.
In terms of what helps keep him grounded, he lauds the instrument of Rhodes’ partnership.
“He’s been that balance. We both feed off of each other very well,” said the tour manager. “We’ve got a lot of stuff down the pipeline that we want to create, that we want to do.…and we say all the time: ‘I’m Solo, he’s Hans,’ [and] that’s how we run it.”
“I’m seeing it right now with Monica and Brandy, that sh–t is selling well,” Lopez told The Informer. “These [fans] are in their 50s, mid- to late 40s, early 30s that were connected to these girls and come to support. It takes you back in time, when music was purely authentic…and it’s kind of cool to be around.”
As for the leading men of HansTolo, both admit they’ve never envisioned their personal marks on the world.
On the business side, they tout an annual model that culminates in celebrating wins, planning for improvement and establishing goals for the following year, something Rhodes considers pivotal to the company’s success.
Among the late 2025 and 2026 docket includes: Aminé’s “Tour de Dance World Tour,” Earl Sweatshirt’s “3L World Tour” (U.S. leg), Danny Brown’s Stardust Tour, and production management for Cardi B’s Little Miss Drama Tour, to name a few projects the duo will oversee.
“We want to be able to be called upon for Iron Maiden, Metallica, U2, Coldplay — we don’t get those phone calls,” Lopez said, noting the evident racial barriers of the gig. “But like I said, we just keep pushing. Our work will speak for itself.”
While he longs for the day hip-hop artists like EPMD, KRS-ONE, and Rakim top the stage at 80 years old, adding hopes to see HansTolo front the production, Lopez told The Informer the dynamic duo is armed and ready for greatness – and this is only the beginning.
“My goal for both me and my partner is to still have a footprint in this business when we exit out,” he said in closing. “Together, we want to dominate this industry, really dominate this industry as one of the top five best production companies out here period. And then whatever happens from that point on…we should be good.”