The Tongue
Xannon Shirley, better known by the stage name The Tongue, is an Australian rapper and high school teacher from Sydney, New South Wales. He released two EPs ("Bad Education" and "Victorious Remixes"), four albums ("Shock And Awe", "Alternative Energy", "Surrender To Victory" and "Hard Feelings") and three mixtapes ("Redux", "The Tongue Is Dead" and "The Sextape")." Musical career. The Tongue represented Australia in the "Battle 4 Supremacy" competition against New Zealand in 2005 and won the Revolver MC battle the same year. Tongue's songs have been placed on rotation by national Australian youth broadcaster Triple J. Tongue  was signed by independent Sydney record label Elefant Traks following the submission of the "Bad Education" EP to the Marrickville-based label—the EP was a result of the Revolver victory and featured the production skills of the Bag Raiders (Jack Glass and Chris Stacey), who were former schoolmates of the MC. In 2009 Tongue hosted the "Elefant Traks 10th Anniversary Party Live" DVD that was released nationally the same year. The MC also performed the songs "Bad Education", "The Punch", "The Blues" and "The Real Thing" at the anniversary event. On 11 November 2012, Elefant Traks performed a tribute  to children's author Dr Seuss. Featuring over 25 musical performers, the event occurred at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia and featured a recital of "Gerald Mc Boing Boing" by The Tongue. As of May 2013, Tongue has released an EP and three albums. His second album "Alternative Energy" features production from El Gusto (Hermitude) and M-Phazes, while his third album "Surrender To Victory" was solely produced by Cam Bluff from Queensland, Australia. Tongue has also released three free mixtapes in the years 2008, 2009 and 2011. The Tongue's third album entitled "Surrender to Victory", would  officially be released on 29 March 2013. The release of a single, entitled "Drums", preceded the album release date and a promotional video was published on the label's YouTube profile. Filmed by Benny Edwards and edited by Frank Meets Wolf, the video contains visual segments that assert that Tongue is one of Australia's most respected MCs and that "Surrender to Victory" is the "album of his career". The video also reveals that the album was produced by Cam Bluff and features Suffa from the Hilltop Hoods. The first instalment of a 15-part web video series was published  on 12 March 2013 and is described as "a little insight into his new album"—the series was directed by Luke Bouchier. "Surrender To Victory" was recorded over a three-month period and involved a single producer, in contrast to the multiple producers that were involved with the previous two albums. Following the release of "Surrender To Victory", Tongue revealed that his intention from the outset of his musical career was to release at least three albums; when asked if the third album is his last as "The Tongue", he replied: "If I was gonna do another album it would  be with Cam [Bluff], for sure. Basically I’m gonna see how this tour goes, it’s been a while since I went on tour, and if I get to the end of this tour and feel like there are enough people out there that get what I’m doing, then I’ll get straight into doing the next album". In early May 2013, the MC announced a national Australian tour in support of the third album that will be undertaken over June and July 2013. The official music video for the song "Australian Dreaming" from "Surrender to Victory  was produced by the LESMEC company, the video features Tongue in a variety of roles, including a street-based sex worker, a police officer, and a drug dealer. In 2015 The Tongue released his forth solo album Hard Feelings", produced by Sydney producer Papertoy and featuring the likes of Ngaiire, Ev Jones (Jones Jnr), Tenth Dan and Jeswon from Thundamentals. After touring the album nationally in 2016, The Tongue parted ways with Elefant Traks. Live performance. The Tongue toured extensively around Australia and, from 2006 to 2010, also toured as a backup vocalist with Sydney group Astronomy Class (Ozi Batla , Chasm and Sir Robbo). The Tongue and Astronomy Class performed in Cambodia in 2012 as part of The Tiger Translate Festival. The Tongue performed at major Australian festivals, including the Big Day Out, Good Vibrations Festival, Groovin The Moo, Sydney Festival, Peats Ridge, Sounds of Spring, Coaster and Park Jam. He has also completed national tours with Mac Miller, Astronomy Class, Drapht and Pharoahe Monch. In November 2012, as part of the "Elefant Traks meets Dr Seuss" show, The Tongue performed at the Sydney Opera House From 2013 to 2015, The Tongue produced and hosted a monthly spoken-word event  called Speech Therapy at Work-Shop in Redfern. Guest performers at Speech Therapy included the likes of Remi, Mantra, Brad Strut, Omar Musa, N'fa, Sky'High, Jimmy Nice, Tom Scott, Class A, Solo, P Smurf, Joyride and Joelistics Collaborations. The Tongue recorded with Dudley Perkins, Ozi Batla, DJ Diaz, Bertie Blackman, Bag Raiders, Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), Katalyst, Braintax, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Muph & Plutonic. Personal life. Shirley graduated from his Masters of Teaching degree in 2014, receiving qualifications to teach high school English and Geography. He began teaching at Sydney Boys High School in 2016, teaching English, History and Values  Education. He also coached basketball there. He went on to teach English and English Extension at International Grammar School.