Biography
Steven Raekwon Reynolds, operating out of New York under the shortened name S. Raekwon, shapes introspective and at times luminous bedroom pop by merging hands-on guitar compositions with dense synthesizer textures and off-kilter percussion patterns. His first appearance came through a limited-edition 2020 7-inch on Saddle Creek; he later aligned with Father/Daughter Records for the 2021 full-length Where I'm at Now. On the 2024 release Steven he adopted a self-contained, minimal aesthetic.
Raised in a working-class section of Buffalo, Reynolds learned guitar without instruction and wrote material that mirrored his reserved, inward-facing temperament. Instead of joining any local scene he followed a private course, capturing the sounds he imagined inside his own home while keeping the results largely to himself. He refined his approach during college at Case Western in Cleveland, then moved to New York City in 2018 after finishing his degree.
Between work shifts he tracked songs inside his small apartment and circulated them to independent labels under the S. Raekwon name. In 2020 Saddle Creek issued his debut 7-inch, “Parts Towards Whole”/“A Crow’s Smile,” as part of the Document Series. Over the next year he developed further as a writer, recording between New York and Edwardsville, Illinois, where he quarantined with his girlfriend’s family during the COVID-19 pandemic. Father/Daughter Records released the resulting album Where I'm at Now in 2021, presenting a poised, many-sided artist moving across moods from gentle romantic pop to quieter singer-songwriter reflections. The 2022 single “Single Mom’s Day” followed as an affecting tribute to his mother, and September brought the four-track I Like It When You Smile EP. In 2023 he and longtime friend, drummer Mario Malachi, cut a set of bare arrangements, many of them completed in single takes; Raekwon then finished the rest alone, performing every remaining instrument and handling the mix. The album Steven appeared in May 2024.
Raised in a working-class section of Buffalo, Reynolds learned guitar without instruction and wrote material that mirrored his reserved, inward-facing temperament. Instead of joining any local scene he followed a private course, capturing the sounds he imagined inside his own home while keeping the results largely to himself. He refined his approach during college at Case Western in Cleveland, then moved to New York City in 2018 after finishing his degree.
Between work shifts he tracked songs inside his small apartment and circulated them to independent labels under the S. Raekwon name. In 2020 Saddle Creek issued his debut 7-inch, “Parts Towards Whole”/“A Crow’s Smile,” as part of the Document Series. Over the next year he developed further as a writer, recording between New York and Edwardsville, Illinois, where he quarantined with his girlfriend’s family during the COVID-19 pandemic. Father/Daughter Records released the resulting album Where I'm at Now in 2021, presenting a poised, many-sided artist moving across moods from gentle romantic pop to quieter singer-songwriter reflections. The 2022 single “Single Mom’s Day” followed as an affecting tribute to his mother, and September brought the four-track I Like It When You Smile EP. In 2023 he and longtime friend, drummer Mario Malachi, cut a set of bare arrangements, many of them completed in single takes; Raekwon then finished the rest alone, performing every remaining instrument and handling the mix. The album Steven appeared in May 2024.
Albums
Singles
