Stevie Stone

Based out of St. Louis by way of Columbia, Missouri, rapper Stevie Stone first discovered a love of music through his mother, a singer and choir director who introduced him to gospel, blues, and soul at an early age. As he grew up, Stone had his feet in the worlds of music and sports, pursuing a basketball career as well as playing piano and drums. Though he received an offer to play ball for a junior college in Iowa, he was asked to open at a show just weeks before he would leave for school, and it sparked a love for performance that made focusing on his rap career an easy choice. In 2007, Stone signed on with Ruthless Records, which released his debut, New Kid Coming, in 2009. Not long afterward, the MC left the label to join up with Tech N9ne’s Strange Music, which was fast making a name for itself as a giant in the independent rap world. Strange Music’s emphasis on touring was a perfect fit for Stone, who loved performing, and the label’s knack for connecting with its fans helped him grow as a rapper. His second album, the more personal Rollin' Stone, arrived on Strange in 2012. Debuting in the top hundred on the Billboard 200, the set featured appearances by Tech N9ne, Krizz Kaliko, Yelawolf, Hopsin, and more. Months later, the Momentum EP arrived. Stone issued his third studio effort in the summer of 2013. 2 Birds, 1 Stone featured appearances from the familiar Strange crew and rose into the top fifteen of the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop and Independent charts. His 2015 album, Malta Bend, was another personal effort, one named after the Missouri city where Stone was born. After the brisk run of one-album-per-year, Stone took his time for his fifth full-length. Utilizing his gruff voice for both rapping and soulful singing, Level Up arrived in 2017. The next year, Stone dipped into the trap world with Kontra-Band, a collaboration with Strange Music labelmate JL. ~ Gregory Heaney