January 5, 2024 will mark two years and 364 days since rapper Markee Steele‘s Vet & A Rook EP. It also serves as the release date for the NC rapper’s next project, Sophomore Slump, as announced via Instagram on Friday (12/1). Since Steele’s last offering to his fans nearly three years ago, he admits that, because of life’s trials and tribulations, he’s often ignored his calling as an artist. Steele finally answers the call (quite literally) in a phone booth in the music video for his new single “Stop“, letting everyone know that the only person who can get in the way of his success is himself.
“Life, depression, and distractions clouded my mind more than creating, which has been my calling since I was a young teenager… The past three years I’ve just been ignoring the calls. The phone booth represents my purpose actually calling me, and the moment I answer the phone, I’ll be released from the extended slump I fell into… Pursuing something that is further than your reach is always associated with challenges difficult enough to give you a valid excuse to discontinue. The catch is that when you’re just as disciplined and dedicated as you are talented, the only thing that can stop you is you.”- Markee Steele.
The output of lyrical and experiential rapper Markee Steele (fka Mark Steele) is cast in the kind of self-assuredness attained only by hard-fought successes. A native North Carolinian, Steele has collaborated with some of his home state’s top names in Hip-Hop, including his mentor and former college professor 9th Wonder and BET’s “Lyricist of The Year” Rapsody. Steele also collaborated with YMCMB artist Cory Gunz, and released numerous projects through his independent Evolution Camp label, including a biennial trilogy of albums capped by his highly concentrated magnum opus It’s Been a Minute (2018).
Watch “Stop” on YouTube here
Stream/purchase the song here