What began as YouTube stardom has now elevated into high demand, as MonoNeon continues to carve a unique path to the top, thanks to his prolific catalog fueled by a wild sound that is distinctly his own. Known for commanding the use of the atonal and microtonal intertwined with his funky virtuosity, outlandish lyrics, over-the-top neon and quilted wardrobe, and playing his bass upside down, norms mean nothing to the 34-year-old Memphian, socially or musically. But on his newest album, Quilted Stereo, we get a look into a new side of Mono that he’s never revealed before.  Trading bass-centric riffing for melodically and harmonically rich movements and tapping into heartfelt lyrics that depart from his comedic musings, MonoNeon’s latest nine-song journey shows depth and maturity while embracing his persona. With legends like George Clinton and Mavis Staples stepping in for cameos, the album morphs stylistically through shades of ’70s funk, ’60s soul, traditional gospel, modern hip-hop, and everything in between. But don’t think that this new song-first approach is leaving anything lacking from Mono’s bass playing, as he picks and chooses his moments to unleash fret-firing runs and rewindable fingerboard moments on each track.  According to the multiple Grammy winner, this shift wasn’t conceived, but was merely part of his natural evolution. A shy and highly reserved person by nature, Mono has done his best to embrace his role as a frontman. And while it may not come naturally, his time working with Prince, Ghost-Note, and Mac Miller has helped in priming him to step out. Now that he’s completed successful sold-out tours, his desire to be a sideman has dissolved, and he is ready for this next chapter. Anointing this new era with Quilted Stereo, the quilted one is ready for the spotlight. https://open.spotify.com/album/7iDbe6GCDAD7HYQq5DY5zd As someone who has covered you since early on, I feel Quilted Stereo is your best work to date. You must have been eager to release it to the world. I was being patient. I’m usually not patient, but because this is a big album for me, I was chill about it. I wanted to put it out the right way. I have people I look up to on it, like George Clinton and Mavis Staples, so I couldn’t just put it out like I usually do with no warning. I was trying to do it the right way. As with your recent albums, your bass playing is superb, but the focus is more on the songs. How would you describe the record stylistically? Along with my co-producer and co-writer, Davy Nathan (Mary J Blige, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Babyface), we just wrote some songs together for the sake of writing. We weren’t thinking stylistically. As we’ve done in the past, we didn’t have a concept going in, but then we take the songs we wrote and create a storyline afterwards. Here, what’s a little different is I’m rapping and covering some styles that are new for me. When do