MARCO PLUS

Born and initially raised in Pensacola, Florida, Marco Plus arrived in Atlanta at six months of age in 1998 and grew into an introspective, self-reliant rapper whose measured, near-lethargic cadence can shift without warning into extended passages of high intensity. His earliest independent EPs charted this willingness to test limits: the hazy Day Dream in 2017, the disorienting Marco’s Cloud Sounds, Vol. 1 in 2018, and the LSD-focused Neva Cared installments of 2019. Alignment with the Atlanta collective Backseat! later expanded his reach, yielding wider streaming availability for additional solo work that included the 2021 full-length Tha Souf Got Sum 2 Say, widely regarded as a career peak and his third project that year. The release drew the interest of Johnny Shipes’ New York imprint Cinematic Music Group, a Universal Music subsidiary that welcomed Marco Plus aboard in late 2022.

A musically immersed household shaped his path from the outset. Although his mother possessed notable vocal talent, she declined to pursue a professional career yet actively nurtured her son’s abilities; alongside her sister, she supplied him with original rhymes to recite beginning at age four. Earlier still, his grandfather had operated a Pensacola label that once counted Gwen McCrae among its roster. This environment, combined with Marco’s own deep engagement with literature, prompted him to cut Day Dream at nineteen alongside producers Ewonee, DVTCHIE, Profound, On Air, and Ross. While that project leaned on relaxed, jazz-inflected soul and R&B loops, Marco’s Cloud Sounds, Vol. 1 introduced greater momentum and a deliberately fragmented, multi-layered vocal technique. The two 2019 Neva Cared releases marked his first sustained work with [S]MILES and Gnarley Marley.

The flowing single “No Sleep,” drawn from 2020’s Day Dream 2 EP, became his initial solo track to reach every major platform after Backseat! House partnered on its release. That same EP spotlighted Silky Southern, who, together with [S]MILES, appeared on several standalone singles throughout the year. Marco’s output peaked in volume during 2021 with the arrival of three albums—Plus 2, Sparco, and Tha Souf Got Sum 2 Say—plus the Northern Lights EP, each reflecting sharper technique, greater clarity, and heightened assurance in his delivery. His first headlining trek began in February 2022 alongside Atlanta’s Wiley and GRIP. The following September he finalized his deal with Cinematic, fulfilling an ambition that dated to age twelve when he first followed the label’s catalog. In the months immediately afterward he continued issuing music through Backseat! House, including the October 2022 LP Tha Soufside Villain and a November contribution to the crew’s own EP High as Fkkk! So Ion Feel Like Recording. A further solo single, “15,” surfaced in February 2023 alongside support dates for Token.