TOPSHAM

It hasn’t been an easy road, but after years spent focusing on his music, 22-year-old Connor “Conman” Toothaker was able to get his foot through the door of the music industry. About a year ago, the hip hop singer moved to Hollywood to work with the likes of Busta Rhymes, Akon, Kylie Jenner and Tyga.

A small record label has invested in the young musician and songwriter from Topsham. While he says he’s living in a mansion in the hills and driving fancy cars, he’s known many struggles in life you can hear about in the songs he writes. Most of his music is on YouTube and his most recent video earned more than 30,000 hits in just over two weeks.

Toothaker was given the opportunity to share his own story with young people battling the pitfalls of adolescence when he met a longtime friend of his father at his father’s Super Bowl Sunday party last year.

That friend was Jason “White Shadow” Gibbons, a Bath native and basketball entertainer who was a Harlem Globetrotter. Gibbons has worked with the Bounce Out Bullying program doing school assemblies since 2004 and when the two got talking about their trials, successes and plans for the future, Toothaker decided he wanted to go into schools with Gibbons to tell his story and to perform.

Toothaker said the anti-bullying program brings a positive message that extends to everything from goal setting to suicide prevention and awareness.

Toothaker said growing up he was just an average kid.

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. “I was getting in trouble. I didn’t really have a lot of people that looked out for me and I just found music and I loved it and I just knew that’s what I wanted to do, so I put everything into it.”

His journey to music began one day when he was going through a lot. His best friend passed away and a week later he lost an uncle and then another uncle passed away.

“I had so much stuff going on my head I didn’t know what I was going to do,” he said.

He had a diary and started writing a story, and it helped. So he began writing every day and then eventually started to record songs.

As a hip hop artist, his songs aren’t about getting drunk and going to the club. He writes about what is going on in his life, what he’s seen and “everyday normal things.” His new song, “All I Need,” talks about needing to provide for his family and teaching his son to be a better man than him.

He remembers in middle school and high school when he started doing music, “everyone bullied and laughed at me,” telling him he’s white and can’t be a rapper. He stuck with it and kept practicing. He was playing on three different hockey teams but decided to focus on his music.

“I’m very, very lucky,” Toothaker said. He has a 1- year-old son so he has to stay in touch with reality, he said. And certainly when he came back to Maine, “it was totally different.”

He’s kept his name as a performer, Conman — a nickname since birth bestowed by his mother.

“I listen to music and write and sing music I can relate to,” Toothaker said. He writes about his own life and he often gets messages from people who say they heard his song and “Oh my God, I’ve been through that.”

“I want kids who go through what I’ve been through to have an outlet,” he said.

Toothaker remembers being a student when Gibbons visited Mt. Ararat Middle School with a number of Globetrotter players.

Today, working with Gibbons will give him a chance to speak to kids and to give back to his community. He’d love to go into his alma mater, Mt. Ararat High School. The duo’s first performance was Saturday at Hall-Dale High School in Farmingdale where he sang his new song, “All I Need.” In the song he talks about how all he needs is his son, his family and a chance.

“That’s all I need and I work so hard at it and I put everything I have into it and all I needed was a chance. And I got the chance and … I’m very lucky and blessed,” Toothaker said.

He said after the show that “One kid I really connected with was an inspiring artist and told me he couldn’t do his music because he couldn’t afford a recording program, so I got him hooked up with one. It was priceless.”

On Saturday evening, the gym was packed with nearly 300 people, Gibbons said. He handed the microphone to Toothaker, who he sees a lot of himself in: “I see that hunger and that fire.”

“He talked about his family, his son, about the things that inspire him to work and be successful,” Gibbons said. “He tells stories of hanging out at the Maine Mall handing out CDs to anyone who would take one, doing anything to get his music out there.”

Toothaker was able to turn hard work into success and is just a local kid with talent, Gibbons said. It is important for students to hear his story which relates to goal setting and perseverance. Toothaker didn’t have any tools they don’t have.

And best of all, at least 100 kids filled out pledge sheets, taking a pledge to stand against bullying, to take action when they see it taking place and not to ignore it.

Anyone interested in bringing the Bouncing Out Bullying assemblies to their school, summer camp or other venues can contact Jason Gibbons at [email protected] or through his Facebook page: Jason “White Shadow” Gibbons. You can follow Toothaker’s music adventures on his “Conman” Facebook page.

dmoore@timesrecord.com