I grew up in the early 90s—SNES controller in one hand, Bone Thugs on the stereo. I watched producers like Kanye, Pharrell, Timbaland, and Manny Fresh reshape what hip-hop could sound like. That era planted something in me.

But I wasn't just listening. I was training. Piano. Cello. All-State orchestra. Acapella groups and R&B ensembles through college. And in parallel, I was running Fruity Loops in the late 90s, programming beats on an MPC 2000xl, routing a Korg and a Motif through a 16-channel MOTU interface. Hardware-based, live mixing, artist in the booth, running it back until it was right.

I majored in Computer Science with a minor in Fine Arts. Now I'm merging the two—technology and art fused into something that pushes the form forward.

Hip-hop feels stuck. I think about where it can go as a musical form—not just lyrics over beats, but composition, dynamics, the full sonic architecture. It won't die with mumble rap and cultural mimicry. It'll ascend, the way blues and rock and house did before it. I'm trying to move the needle. Not alone—I'm just one person—but authentically, from my own experience, adding what I can to the arena.

I used to release music as Vintage Rollercoaster—a pseudonym for the experience I was offering and cover for my everyday life. But as I unify myself and my art, I'm presenting now under my real name. I'm not recreating the past. I'm building on what's been, in an inspired way.

I remember being in the studio with an artist, adding an instrument solo to a rap track. They asked, "But why?" I knew it needed to be there. My clients were poets—I was the musician. My music reflects that: composer, producer, scientist. Crafting human experience out of 0s and 1s.

I don't classify my style because it smears across genres. But it's distinctly me. I'm less concerned with showing off musicianship than I am with the listener experience. I want your brain to expand. I want you to close your eyes and fly. I want your heart to race.

this is the franklin stephen experience.