Steelyone is an artist from New Rochelle, NY. In a larger sense he reps Westchester County, which resonates with me because I’ve spent my whole life in the area.
He specializes in Hip Hop as a rapper, but it would be wrong to classify him as just that. He’s an entrepreneur in charge of his own brand, a clothing designer for his merchandise, a marketing director when it’s time to promote, and so much more.
I first met Steely while I was pursuing my undergrad at Manhattanville College. I used to put on a series of Hip Hop/R&B showcase called “Urban Live” there. Steel was a frequent performer despite a majority of the school not being into “Lyrical Spiritual” rap. He was able to resonate with the audience regardless because he knew how to work the crowd. He could make them laugh, show them the pain in his music, and give them high enough energy where even the most stiff person had to bob their head.
Although I’m a fan of a lot of Steel’s work, I can’t say there’s an entire project of his that I would go back to and play on repeat. With his upcoming new album “White Linen” however, he may have finally won me over. The project is full of his trials and tribulations. He tells me, “I’m going through all this shit, this shit is life or death for me right now. Like, right now if I dont have this shit to talk about, If I don’t have a fucking outlet to talk about it, I might fucking kill myself. I’m going crazy. This shit is real.”
From all that pain, has come his most powerful work to date. Steel has touched on his life before in his music, but never to the level of detail and emotion that “White Linen” is exploring. After hearing some records in the studio.. I know it’s going to touch a lot of people when it finally drops.
Steely shared his reaction with me from a fan who a particular song resonated with, and what it meant to him. “That means God forbid the day I die, the day I pass, my nigga, that I’m gonna live through someone else’s life, through my music.” Steel is already achieving his goal of being remembered through his music. Now it’s time to take it to a larger scale than it’s ever been, and this album is the first step in doing so.