Stephen Hart: rapper with 'chill like an icy tundra'

Stephen Hart’s rap music career began while he was still in high school.

“I got this really cheap microphone, and I recorded myself over these beats, and I put it on Facebook,” Hart said. “And I went back to school and my friends were like, ‘Yo, that was sick. I can’t believe you did that. You should keep doing that.’”

He did. Hart’s first album, fittingly called "Junior Year", was released during his junior year of high school.

On Sept. 4, Hart released his latest single, “Do Your Thing," now available on iTunes, Spotify and most online music platforms. He will be releasing the music video for the song on Vevo at the end of the month.  

"I edited it myself, which I feel really proud about because it’s like my baby that I’m putting out there,” Hart said. “So I’m really excited for that to come out.”

Music isn’t Hart’s only passion. He decided to start acting when he was watching “Even Stevens" with his parents one day. 

“I was probably 8 or 9,” Hart said. “I looked at my mom and I said, ‘You know, I could do that.’ So, she signed me up for acting classes.”

His most recent acting work includes a commercial for Carolina Bank that aired during the Rio Olympics. He is currently filming a short film called “Return to Sender.” 

Hart’s talent manager, Brittany Smith, said she admires Hart’s dedication to acting. 

“He really enjoys studying his craft,” Smith said. “He takes criticism really well and doesn’t just brush it under the rug. He takes it, and he fixes it.”

Hart excels despite the difficulty of balancing being both a college student and a performer.

"I wake up, I have class at 8 a.m, and that’s when the business day starts, and that’s when the emails start coming in," Hart said. 

He is in constant communication with his agent, his manager and his publicist. 

"And they’re like, 'Can you do this for me?'" he said. "And it’s like, 'I can, but not until later because I’m going to be in class, or I have an exam that I’m studying for.'”

Hart said that it’s important for him to represent his hometown, Charlotte, in his music.

“When was the last time someone was like, ‘Yo, this cool rapper that I love came up out of Charlotte’?” Hart said. “There hasn’t really been that for Charlotte, and I would love to be that for Charlotte.”

Hart’s roommate, junior Matty Jackman, said Hart’s personality seeps into his work. 

“He’s very true to his values and what he wants to achieve, and it feeds into everything he does,” Jackman said. “And his chill is like an icy tundra.” 

@KyleyUnderhill 

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