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Music

Stephen Keeps Dropping the Hits - Here's Newie "Crossfire"

Mining guilt for musical gold.

Back in October we premiered a new cut by rising star Stephen—"Fly Down"—a honeyed slice of R&B with a SBTRKT-like bite. Today he popped another tune up online that's already spreading like wildfire ("Fly Down" has racked up over half a million soundcloud plays in only two months). New song "Crossfire" actually kicks off with the sound of sobbing, before dubby synth womps surge forward. As per usual Stephen's assured vocal takes center-stage. "There are people out there who are suffering and there’s very little they can do about it," explains the 23-year-old. "Sometimes I feel guilty when I’m happy because I know that these people are hurting. How can I be happy when I know that people are being forced to live in refugee camps and ghettos, while women are being sex trafficked and millions of innocent people are suffering? So as I sit here and look at my life, I feel grateful, but I also feel confused. How can I enjoy these blessings when I know others can’t?"

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Listen to his musings below. Side note: You gotta be so ballsy to use a single name like Stephen as your artist moniker, but it's clearly working for him.