Novel. It's a fittingly double-edged moniker, for a man whose 'pen game' is much sharper than any sword. Indeed, Alonzo "Novel" Stevenson is a bit of a paradox. His forthcoming debut on Capitol Records, The Audiobiography... is a study in creative duality: equal parts sung and rapped. A daring opening salvo, given urban music's penchant for pigeonholing artists. Yet as Novel opens up, and his life's path and inspirations come into focus, his music seems less contradictory, more complementary. A product of luminary musical lineage - grandson of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Solomon Burke, son of former Motown VP Mickey Stevenson -- Novel is unequivocal about his own niche: "I consider it hip-hop." No stranger to the industry, Novel languished through record label rigmarole. Ironically, this shuffle mirrored that of his adolescence, a bi-coastal back-and-forth between parents. He ignored repeated industry advice to concentrate on one genre at the expense of the other. Always confident in his ability, and just now galvanizing his identity, he kept busy producing and writing for some of the game's biggest stars: Alicia Keys, Leona Lewis, India.Arie, Joss Stone, and Beyonce. Channeling principal influences Prince and Lauryn Hill, Novel was intent on authoring the next chapter of his life in his own voice. Eventually, Capitol Records, under the umbrella of Dallas Austin's Rowdy imprint, made Novel a home. "Capitol heard my music and totally got it," Novel beams. "They said, 'We know you're not just a radio artist. You have a story here that we have to build.' They were the first label to say that." Finally, all of his creative energy, his long-germinating frustration, his very soul would pour into the aptly-titled The Audiobiography...