| Stephen the Levite | |
| Birth Name: | Darrell Lynn Bell, Jr. |
| Alias: | Stephen the Levite (STL) |
| Birth Date: | July 2, 1981 |
| Birth Place: | San Diego County, California |
| Origin: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Instrument: | vocals, singer-songwriter |
| Genre: | Christian hip hop, Urban contemporary gospel[1] |
| Occupation: | Singer, songwriter |
| Years Active: | 2001–present |
| Label: | Lamp Mode |
| Associated Acts: | The Collective, Timothy Brindle |
Darrell Lynn Bell, Jr. (born July 2, 1981), who goes by the stage name Stephen the Levite or STL abbreviation, is an American Christian hip hop musician. The Last Missionary was released by Lamp Mode Recordings in 2012.[1] This album would be his breakthrough release on the Billboard charts. He is a member of Christian hip hop collective The Collective, with Timothy Brindle and Zae da Blacksmith. He was also a member of the Christian hip hop group Redeemed Thought. He is known for his complex flow patterns and multi-syllable rhyme schemes.
Stephen the Levite was born Darrell Lynn Bell, Jr.,[2] in San Diego County, California on July 2, 1981.[2] [3] to Darrell Lynn Bell, Sr. and Cheryl Bell (nee, Goodrum).
Stephen the Levite started making music in 2001.[3] He became signed to Lamp Mode Recordings in 2007. To Die Is Gain was his debut album and the second album was 2010's The Forerunner.[4] However, it took until 2012's The Last Missionary for the artist to crack the Billboard charts.[5] New Release Tuesday rated the album four stars out of five.[6] He is a member of Christian hip hop collective, The Collective, with Timothy Brindle and Zae da Blacksmith. Can I Be Honest? was rated four out of five by Indie Vision Music.[7] In 2020, He released his album Still Hungry.
Stephen The Levite has four children. His first was born on February 4th, 2010. He works on a website called Scratch. His second was born on September 17, 2011. His third was born on April 28th, 2017. and finally, his last child was born August 30th, 2019. Though the children haven't appeared much recently, Levi, his firstborn, appears in the music video for "Sure Thing" by S.O., as well as Stephen's "S.O.S" music video. Brooklyn, his second born, also appears in that video.
| Album details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Chr | US Gos | US Heat | |||
| To Die Is Gain |
| – | – | – | |
| The Forerunner |
| – | – | – | |
| The Last Missionary |
| 45 | 20 | 43 | |
| Can I Be Honest? |
| – | – | – | |