Award-winning singer-songwriter Stephanie K offers no apologies, warnings or explanations for taking control and asserting her will on Troublemaker, her five-song debut EP that will be released October 20 by Woodward Avenue Records. Setting the stage for the EP is Tonight, a pulsing, high-energy electronic club banger written and produced by Trend Def aka the team of Mike Gonsolin and Nick Nittoli. Stephanie wrote the rest of the set with four-timeGrammy winner Michael J. Powell (Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight) who produced the tracks.
Pictured on the EP cover with a collection of heads hanging on the wall - trophies representing her romantic conquests - Stephanie’s lyrical subjects on “Troublemaker” are a mix of girl power bravura and rebellious party girl. The Detroit native writes from personal experience and insists that her material be honest and real. She empowers “Tonight” with a “go for it” mentality with meaning far beyond just a wild night out, but advocates going after your dreams zealously. She offers genuine emotion in an apology for breaking her lover’s heart because of cheating on him on the R&B/rock hybrid “Story Of A Broken Heart.” Anchored by pounding, funky staccato drums and doused with combustible live horns, Stephanie lays her cards on the table before a tantalizing dalliance on the tempestuous “Trouble.” A devilish electric guitar teases and taunts over kinetic synth beats on “Hard For Me” while Stephanie’s melodies and vocals take on haunting qualities. She ends things defiantly on “Breaking Up,” a frenetic synth-rock-pop cocktail that deliberately goes down with biting confrontational bitterness.
“The songs are a very true representation of who I am as a person and as an artist — fun, a little edgy and not at all afraid to be different and unique. They were inspired by real experiences and raw emotions, which made the writing process so fluid and natural. I’ve lived through this stuff, and I think listeners can appreciate that type of authenticity and honesty,” said Stephanie, a daring black and blond-maned fashionista who was named one of the Best Dressed People by Detroit’s Hour Magazine.
Stephanie met Powell while she was a student on an academic scholarship at the University of Michigan. They began by issuing singles and their collaborations gained national recognition when “Story Of A Broken Heart” won the pop/Top 40 category at The Great American Song Contest; “Breaking Up” won Pop Record of the Year honors at the Indie Music Channel Awards; “Ice Cream” was named Pop Song of the Year at the Indie Music Channel Awards; and “High Life” won Pop Single of the Year at theLos Angeles Music Awards. Reflecting her appeal in multiple genres, Stephanie was selected as Rock Artist of the Year by theInternational Music & Entertainment Awards, Pop Artist of the Year at the Indie Music Channel Awards and Female Vocal Performer of the Year at the Los Angeles Music Awards. Her recordings have appeared on television shows (“The Game,” “Total Divas,” “Bad Girls Club”) and movies internationally.
An alluring multimedia magnet, Stephanie has been featured on Inside Edition and FOX as well as HuffPo and in the New York Post and Detroit Free Press. She honed her stage craft at major festivals (RedGuerilla Musicfest at SXSW and Day N Night Fest) and high-profile venues (Whisky a Go Go, House of Blues and the Palace of Auburn Hills). A loyal Detroit sports fan, Stephanie has sung the National Anthem prior to Lions, Tigers and Pistons games.
Proud to be the first pop artist released by the noted urban-jazz label, Woodward Avenue Records, Stephanie is eager to stir up trouble from the get-go. “Being a bit of a ‘Troublemaker’ is never a bad thing! Too often, I think we become overwhelmed with the notion of fitting into this ‘cookie-cutter’ image. But when it boils down to it, we are not robots and we’re not perfect — so why not embrace that? With this EP, I really wanted to express that it’s okay to feel and display a full range of emotions - from carefree to guilty to sexy to spiteful and everything in between - because that’s life!”
Troublemaker contains the following songs:
“Tonight” (radio edit)
“Story Of A Broken Heart”
“Trouble”
“Hard For Me”
“Breaking Up”
“Tonight”
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