Deem Spencer

Queens-based rapper Deem Spencer favors an understated, romantic delivery when sharing intensely personal lyrics over plush productions that blend lovelorn R&B textures with classic hip-hop foundations, resulting in gentle, atmospheric soundscapes suited to his uncommonly tender style. His discography includes the 2019 album Pretty Face, the 2021 mixtape Deem's Tape, and the 2023 full-length adultSW!M, where his meticulously crafted rhymes adapted fluidly to raw bass drums, light hand percussion, or breezy soft rock backdrops.

Raised in the Jamaica, Queens section of New York, Spencer began rapping during high school with the goal of catching a love interest’s attention—an origin story whose romantic thread would continue to shape his work. That thread surfaced first on his initial public release, the 2016 EP Sunflower, whose six tracks combined jazzy samples, futuristic production, and his dreamily fluid lyrical approach. The following year brought the second EP We Think We Alone, while 2019 marked his debut full-length effort, the twelve-track mixtape Pretty Face. The album’s melancholic, mildly lovesick song titles, read in sequence, spell out the sentence “Really, I been tryna tell shorty how beautiful shorty is to me but shorty not tryna hear it from me.” Pretty Face earned favorable reviews and prompted several live performances in support of its release.

Deem's Tape arrived in 2021 as a further exploration of the same soft-edged, futuristic rap/R&B hybrid and featured guest appearances by Okay Kaya and Mel Hines. On the 2023 project adultSW!M, Spencer’s sound shifted between rawer and more opulent palettes, anchored by the casually bopping single “To Have It All” and guest spots from DRAM and Mavi.