Tone Stith on The Edge and taking that leap of faith

Tone Stith has spent more than a decade writing hits for other people, standing in studios behind the scenes while the spotlight landed elsewhere. Now, with his new album The Edge out and his single Fly reaching number one on both the Billboard Adult Airplay and Mediabase Adult R&B charts earlier this year, the moment he had been building toward finally arrived. He sat down with Rolling Out Music to talk about what it took to get here, the losses that shaped the album, and why this version of himself refuses to be contained.

Fly hit number one on two major charts. What was the feeling you wanted listeners to walk away with?

First off, for that song to hit number one on the charts is just a dream come true, and I am still processing it. It is my first number one like that. When Fly was made, the intention was to really tell a real story, to tell my story and the things I have been through. I have been in the music industry for at least 10 plus years, and there have been a lot of ups and downs and trials and tribulations. I wanted to let people know that I am normal as well and I go through the things that they go through. Fly could be applied to anybody’s life. Whatever they want to do, it is just having that mindset of taking that leap of faith and going for it.

You have spent years writing for some of the biggest artists in music. What does it feel like to put all of that energy fully into your own story?

It is great. It is amazing. Obviously I am still doing work with other people behind the scenes, but it feels really good to have my opportunity, to have my moment, to be put in the limelight, and to be ready for that. That is what I have been waiting for. I am excited.

How would you describe who you are on The Edge to someone who has never heard your music before?

This version of me is a grown man that has been through a lot of life. I have had a lot of losses, and The Edge is the representation of that. I have been in this industry a while, and there have been a lot of people that always try to dictate what I should do and how I should do it. I never really got the chance to express my voice. After so much of that, you get to a point where it feels like you are almost being driven off the edge, like being driven crazy. But the edge is not being driven crazy. It is being driven back to you and taking that leap of faith. That is really what this next part of my journey is about.

Michael Jackson, Prince, and Bruno Mars are big influences on this project. How did those artists shape the direction you took?

They are all so phenomenal. I was introduced to Michael and Prince when I was a kid and I saw myself in them. Bruno Mars is one of the modern-day pioneers keeping that feeling alive and keeping that integrity in the music. It was a pleasure working on this album especially with my brother KP, who is one of the producers on the album, and my other brother Brody Brown. Brody has been working with Bruno since the beginning, so it was good to have all of that in the same circle and just be on the same page.

The album touches on funk, soul, and pop in ways that go beyond traditional R&B. What gave you the confidence to push that far?

That has always been a part of my artistry and what I was brought up on musically, growing up in church and being around live instrumentation and real musicianship. This is the first opportunity I have had for an album to really show that and showcase that. A lot of my other bodies of work were all in the R&B setting, but now I am touching on soul, pop, funk, and all those different places.

You talked about two years of silence and two years of growth. What did that time actually look like for you behind the scenes?

It was actually hard. It was a really hard journey. It was at the lowest points of life, whether financially or losing loved ones that were really close to me, especially two of my brothers that I lost. My manager Jason and another brother Melvin, who were both super instrumental in my career and the reason I am here now. Their loss was really heavy for me. I had to navigate that, but I learned to accept it and let it motivate me and put that into my art. We are not here to live forever, but whatever we make in this art will.

How do you balance inspiration with vulnerability in your songwriting?

I am at a place now in life where it has to be real and it has to connect, whether it is a story about me or somebody else. It has to be something real and relatable that we as human beings can connect to and see ourselves in. With Better Days specifically, KP wrote and produced that song and played it for me. I was like, that fits perfectly for where I am at. I could see myself in that song. I felt what he was talking about. I can relate. Even though I might not have been a part of the creative process of that record, it was telling my story too.

What did the response to Shut Up tell you about where your audience was ready to go?

It was really cool because the place I was pulling from was very much Prince, very much James Brown, this super funk element. The messaging of the song came from a place of feeling tired of everybody’s opinions and everything they had to say. I was tired and I needed everybody to just shut up and let me do my thing. At that time I also parted ways from RCA, and it all happened simultaneously, so that was God. Seeing everybody respond to it was like, whoa, this is different from Tone. Something is going on. That really set the table for Fly and set it up to where people were like, I understand the vision and I see where he is going.

You co-produced The Edge with KP and Brody. What did that collaborative process bring out of you?

When you are working with people that you love and consider family, iron sharpens iron. We keep each other at our best and challenge each other. There might be times working alone where I might slack off on something because it is not clicking, but being in that group setting it is like, let us push here, let us go here. Having more minds is the greatest thing. Everything is a collaborative effort. Jordan had Pippen, Kobe had Shaq. Everything is a collaborative effort.

Beyond streams and numbers, what does success look like for this album to you personally?

Really, success looks like being able to go on the Edge Tour, sell it out, and be able to tell this story live in person with the fans, with everybody fully immersed in the world and understanding where I am at. Just ready to grow with me from this journey on.

The Edge is out. Stream it now and follow Tone Stith on all platforms.