Marzz

Marzz crafts progressive R&B through velvety and endearing vocals while displaying a gift for merging expansive ideas with intimate details across her inventive lyrics, an approach that attracted super producer Timbaland and later earned her a spot on the respected Keep Cool roster. The Kentuckian’s first EP, Love Letterz, appeared in 2021.

Laria McCormick began performing in the children’s choir at her Louisville church and absorbed a blend of gospel and R&B growing up, drawing from artists such as Kim Burrell, the Clark Sisters, Erykah Badu, and Beyoncé. During high school she came out, and encouragement from pep-rally audiences prompted her to channel greater personal expression into music. After posting freestyles and covers on Instagram she was discovered by Timbaland, who mentored her, heightened her visibility, and joined her on new recordings.

Her debut commercial single as Marzz, “Rain Freestyle,” arrived in October 2020 and reworked SWV’s yearning slow jam “Rain.” Roughly three months later she issued the atmospheric “Feelin’ Me,” then in February 2022—alongside the forlorn love ballad “So Frequently”—the RCA-distributed Keep Cool label announced her addition to its roster. The next several months brought two further singles: the Noden collaboration “Countless Times” and the Timbaland co-production “Cleopatra.” That June the three newest tracks plus an equal number of original songs were collected on the Love Letterz EP.