According to Stevie Stone himself, his new album is about, “leveling up all the way around the board. Production, lyrics, concepts. A bigger album.” So it only makes sense that the album itself, reflects the elevation.

Hence, Level Up.

While the title is self-explanatory (and also explained by Stevie), it’s how he came up with it and how it is demonstrated on the album, that’s the real story. In an exclusive interview with Stone himself, he broke down the title, as well as the motivations behind it.

Can you tell me a little about the title and what it means?

The album is called Level Up because I’m leveling up. It’s more broad than my last album. More concepts, bigger beats, bigger all the way around. I believe it’s my best work. Every year I get better, that’s the reason why it’s called Level Up.

When did you develop the name? 

I didn’t have the name before I started writing. I did ten records and then, after listening to all the records, I talked to my A&R Mark Breezy who took me out to Cali, I was talking to Frizz, and I was like, “I feel like this is leveled up. What do you think about that as the name?”

Both were like “That’s it!”

In what way is your “leveling up” most clear? Are there any songs that especially exemplify it?

Man there’s a lot of big ones on there. The two I did with Scott Storch, “Whippin’ Up” and “Crushin’.” I’m super excited about “Crushin'” because its so different. There’s a record on there called “Paradise” from Dem Jointz.

I’m excited about the whole album! It’s a roller coaster ride so everything has it’s own feel.

How did your “leveling up” effect how you created the album? 

Not second guessing anything. Just going out and doing it and looking up and seeing what happened. On this album I tried some different things and I trusted that, I was surprised and very happy with what we came up with; in one day I did five records. 

Once the music and the vibe hits it’s hard to slow it down.

How do you plan on continuing to “Level Up”? What’s the next step?

Stay tuned. [laughs]. I’m riding the wave. I’m focused. More focused than ever. I know what I’m supposed to do. It’s a blessing.

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER LEVEL UP ON iTUNES!