The Pitch’s Infinite Playlist Round 42: Stephonne

The Pitch’s Infinite Playlist // Illustration by Shelby Phelps

Welcome to The Pitch’s Infinite Playlist, a forever-growing playlist of songs picked by people in KC. View/follow the full playlist on Spotify, and you can always go back and check out the full run of articles. Throw the playlist on shuffle and enjoy away!

For today’s installment, we’ve taken a different approach than normal. We’ve covered Stephonne Singleton and their work for years here at The Pitch, and today they’re sharing some of their own favorite tracks, and songs that inspired them, while sharing details of a cool campaign they’re a part of—with voting currently open.

Playlist Guest #42: Stephonne Singleton

I’m Stephonne Singleton, a KC-based musician whose new music is dropping immediately. Step into a new era with me and go to www.stephonne.com to be the first to hear the upcoming new single and get alerts for shows.

[Ed. update: The new single is available for pre-order here.]

The 2024 West 18th St. Fashion Show. // Photo By Quinlyn Tosh

I’m also in the running for the Next Top Hitmaker competition, which would open up new audiences for me all over the world—including getting my songs in front of judges like Busta Rhymes.

The prize money behind it would go a long way towards seeing a Stephonne world tour, but nothing will stop this new album from coming together. Launching music from platforms like Rolling Stone magazine would make sure that music as a career would provide me with more than just the basics I need to survive. I’d rather thrive.

So today, I’m asking if you’ll take a few minutes to help vote for me and advance me in this contest. I think I’m an excellent choice to represent KC on the national stage.

There are multiple vote options and they support MusiCares. Founded by the Recording Academy in 1989 as a U.S.-based, independent 501(c)(3) charity, MusiCares safeguards the well-being of all music people through direct financial grant programs, networks of support resources, and tailored crisis relief efforts.

Voting begins today, and the artist with the most votes wins. Again, would really appreciate your clicks on this.

The single cover for “1.” // Photo by Tyler Carlson.

STEPHONNE will be my sophomore full length album, but it has probably been about 4 years in the making. I’m not sure I knew that I was creating an album as the songs were coming, but I knew I’d written the last few songs in early May.

Music and art, in general, are a calling for me and not something I take lightly. I’m not and will never be a serial releaser. I respect those who are, but I’m not built like that. When I feel there is something to say, I’ll say it. Now is that time. It’s important to take your time and let the art happen until YOU can sleep at night happy. It will be out in the world forever. We can only receive certain frequencies when we begin to receive life and ourselves fully. I’ve been very intentional about my journey since SIS: Side A, and it’s led to new awareness, peace, and liberation. I’ve been receiving a corner turned for me as a writer, especially. I’m excited to share the songs in their full glory next year.

To celebrate getting back into the studio and the late summer release of the new single “1.” Here is a tease of what’s to come with some album influences, songs I have on repeat, and some trips down memory lane.

The King’s Gambit – Stephonne

This moment in my discography was a kind of gateway or portal into where the new songs were opened up. All of my influences and styles did this magical convergence I wasn’t trying for, and suddenly alternative rock, R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and pop became one sound. It was my sound. It was the first time I could hear it so clearly, and a switch flipped. It sent me to a place of self-discovery with writing and my voice that I had to dream to reach. I dreamed that song and had to get it on paper so fast before it disappeared. It took forever to find the chords and key. It was from somewhere I hadn’t reached yet. I’ve been getting to know that place over the past 2 years, and THESE SONGS…

Alligator Tears – Beyoncé

Listen…. I don’t play when it comes to Mrs. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter. She has always been an artist that inspires me. She is a symbol of EXCELLENCE, drive, mastery of a dealt hand, and of knowing the power we all possess when we live on purpose. I wrote my first official country song my sophomore year of college, not knowing about the Black roots and origins of the genre. I remember being greatly influenced by folk and rock genres when I started writing with a guitar in my lap at 11. Kids would tease me for saying “y’all” and the slight twang that came from the older generations of my family and preferring their company. I remember my dad talking about Tulsa and crackling cornbread, but I still disliked the country genre that I couldn’t explain. It wasn’t until FAI 2024 at The Black American Music Summit that it hit me like a sack of bricks. I had such an aversion because Black people built this country, as we know it, through slavery. We were the farmers, animal handlers, “simpletons”, and working class and treated as subhuman by rule of law. Many of us run from the pain and reality of that history, and because we seek to skip past it, we miss the Black inventions of the fiddle and banjo, the beginnings of Blues (because, duh), and a rich relationship to Earth and natural resources. We need to accept and tell the truth of America. We can become something greater than any one of us can imagine if we accept the truths of where we still are. We can’t forget how we become. It is too grave a loss, even when the truth is horribly inconvenient. I love that Cowboy Carter reignited so many IMPORTANT conversations and opened doors for so many Black artists who weren’t seen. I wrote my country songs for this album before Beyoncé saddled up on the charts. Dolly Parton probably influenced them most at the start of the pandemic. Orville Peck’s appearance on the scene probably kept my ear close to the demos, too. Performing them live since 2021/2022 has been such a fun and vulnerable experience for me. It’s exciting to think about releasing “Black Coffee & Brown Sugar” and “The Holy Mountain” in a world that is finally ready to welcome them!

Black Coffee & Brown Sugar – Stephonne

Rocket in My Pocket ft Shawn M Stewart – Stephonne

At a young age, rap was expected from me before I’d even open my mouth. It made me do everything I could to fight off the assumption that I was a rapper and saw me avoid rap as a writing and performance tool for years. It felt limiting. but I realized that I was letting the perceptions of others limit me and my power with words. Another reason was that hip-hop is sacred to me, and to say you rap… Lauryn raps. Kanye raps, Jay-Z raps. Missy raps. Busta RAPS. You better be able to write and rap with style and SKILL. Why claim something that you really can’t yet? The recovering perfectionist in me realized that I’ve been working at rap since I started writing poems at 10. Anyone can “rap”—about anything and nothing at all these days. Shawn M Stewart invited me to say something on this track. I took the chance to tell my origin story. The next album and singles see me unafraid of the power of my words and with plenty to say. I’m rapping NOW and I’m allowing my inner child to grow and be everything he thought he couldn’t be. I wrote “Fly Boy” for him during my studio residence at Charlotte Street Foundation. It will be on Stephonne!

Fly Boy – Stephonne

Forgiven – Alanis Morrisette

Catholicism wasn’t easy for me to survive for a multitude of reasons, and it brought a game of shame with it. I want whoever needs to walk away from that game to run and then burn the board. That goes for any denomination or religion. Shame will kill you. If you aren’t careful, the tool that religion is meant to be becomes a cage. It is a cage for a lot of the world, and it has been incredibly divisive, destructive, largely unchecked, and a sort of dead end for human progress (of course, NOT ALL Y’ALL). Then we run around trying to convince and force one another to believe that our cage is better. How weird and wasteful can we be with time? Alanis Morissette was the first artist I really heard tackle this through song (along with Tori Amos, A Perfect Circle, Nirvana, NIN, and more.)

Highlander ft. Shilow – Stephonne

I am so proud of this movie and the work that everyone came together to help my dreams come true. This is your peak into my future. Highlander took me 37 years to realize and manifest. There is no race to become who you are, and you have everything you need, no matter your age or circumstance. Work with that, because it is enough and all that is required. The rest will come and there really are people out there that will help.