Daniel Steez aka Lil Tostone

What a feeling 💙

Happy Mother’s Day to my QUEEN, my teammate, my soulmate, my ride or die, my everything. We started this journey with just us two, graduated to dog-parents, and now we have two beautiful boys together. I witnessed you morph into super-mom three years ago and you never looked back. You are amazing, you are patient, and you go above and beyond each and every day. If it wasn’t for you the kids would be surviving off pouches and bananas. We love you mami bella. @viajes_tatis

Happy Mother’s Day to my beautiful mother, my consultant, and one of my best friends. Thank you for always believing in me and pushing me forward. Thank you for allowing me the room to grow while I struggled with direction. And thank you for providing me with the tools to build the life I want. Love you mommy.

It took a year and a half but Mateo finally says “papa” 💙 Words he learned before my name: mama, aqua, gracias, mas, and whatever “ackackrack” means.

Captured my first high fives with Mateo on camera today. Idk where the time went but I blinked and my newborn baby boy became a toddler who walks around and gives high fives. 💙

I made a commitment to a new friend of mine 4 years ago while I was in the midst of the hardest stretch of my life. I had dedicated over ten years to multiple dreams that failed for different reasons and moving to Austin felt like the nail in the coffin for me. It was over. I was jaded. I was bitter. And I was mentally checked out. I was making music and writing poetry as therapy but I was never going to start another indie label or get into artist development again. That part of my life was behind me and I thought I had completely closed the door on it until I met Paul and he invited me to start running events with him. Watching artists chase their dreams at our first showcase sparked life back into me and I vouched to start over with a fresh mind. I wouldn’t put any expectations on things. I wouldn’t be weighed down by the enormity of my goals. I would just put my head down and work with my homie to make this new creative project as big as it possibly could be. It was a way for me to do something within music and support creativity without being in the music business. I was still done with that. We didn’t have a business plan for it. We were just tired of artists telling us how they had been mistreated or overlooked by others. We wanted to create a safe space where everybody felt welcome. We weren’t going to hustle anybody or sell people dreams. We were going to cultivate a true community. And we did it. We took things slow and just focused on our weekly open mics to keep things sustainable. It took us almost two years to hit 1,000 followers and then three months later we hit 2,000. Two years after that and we’re now at 13,000 followers who mostly live within the Austin area and are starting to expand what we do. We’re partnering with artists to support their releases as a micro-label. We have a growing team of volunteers who believe in supporting our mission. And we’re about to become a registered non-profit. I thought it was over but the universe told me otherwise. And now there’s no stopping. Happy birthday UV. The next 4 years should be as fun as the last 4 years. 🎈

Caught Milan getting excited about basketball on camera. I can die a happy man now. Don’t mind me yapping in the background. I was tryna convince Tatiana to let me ride out for Game 4 to witness the sweep. Needless to say I will not be driving to Houston tomorrow. I will not be witnessing the sweep. I’ll be changing diapers and watching it from home with Milan again. 😂

Thor ⚡️

I have known you for 19 years and knew I wanted to get to know you from the second I laid eyes on you. 17 year old me was absolutely smitten with you. You called me cocky and arrogant and obnoxious. And I didn’t think I would land the girl. But you gave me a chance. And the 36 year old me is absolutely smitten with you. You still call me cocky and arrogant and obnoxious. But you also call me a great man, a loving man, and I am incredibly lucky that you also call me your husband. I somehow landed the girl. And that girl has grown and evolved over the last two decades. We have met new versions of each other countless times and I have fallen in love with every single version of you. You have been my rock and my constant. You have been patient with me as I worked through countless internal struggles and you continue to put up with my ambition and the weight that comes with it. You are more than the mother of my children. You are my eternal light. You are my soulmate. I will love you till forever and a day. Happy birthday baby. @viajes_tatis 💞

My life philosophy is pretty simple. I don’t play games. I don’t talk down on others. I don’t talk behind people’s back for no good reason. I don’t care if people bad mouth me for no good reason. I don’t focus on things I can’t control. I put my energy into growth. I put my energy in creating spaces for people to hone their crafts and believe in themselves. I put my energy in supporting creativity without a thought on potential returns. I put my energy where it belongs — helping others. I don’t have time to pop out anywhere but if my platform can raise awareness about another art contest or another show across town and it pops up on my feed I’m reposting or sharing that joint. I take ten minutes a day to do just that. And I don’t care if it’s reciprocated. I don’t do things with pointless expectations. I do things like that because that’s just who I am and how I operate. I do it because I want everybody going after their dreams to win. And I don’t need somebody else to lose for me to win. Be You. Live R.E.A.L.

After a 23 hour trip to get back home all I can say is a time was HAD in Punta Cana for my brother’s wedding!!! The last few weeks have been devastating for me but the last few days really put some true joy back into my heart. It was an honor to be named a groomsman and to celebrate one of my favorite couples as they entered the next stage of their beautiful love story. Seeing how happy the newlyweds were as they exchanged vows and getting to experience that moment with them and their families was truly magical. I can’t wait to witness what this next chapter has in store. To the Millers! 🥂 @thatpmiller @ayresrachel

Happy birthday dad! Thank you for teaching me how to be an honorable man who looks out for others without any expectations, how to show up for my children, and for leading by example. I’m competitive and confident in who I am because of you. I show up for others without hesitation because I’ve watched you do it all my life. I am who I am in large part because of you. Thank you for always being one call away and for jumping through hoops to make sure we were all okay. Love you!