Biography
Q, a South Florida multi-instrumentalist who sings, writes songs, plays guitar, and produces, extends the lineage of D'Angelo and Frank Ocean through his sensitive, inward-looking fusion of R&B, soul, and acoustic pop. Emotion anchors his lyrics, which illuminate mental health while questioning conventional gender roles and make room for anxiety and fragility alongside desire and intimacy. He entered the scene in 2018 with the Thoughts LP, reached wider audiences the next year via Forest Green, and, after issuing the 2020 EP The Shave Experiment, followed a run of energetic singles with his first proper album, Soul, PRESENT, in mid-2023.
Born Q Marsden in Pembroke Pines, Broward County, Florida, the versatile artist absorbed music from childhood onward during travels between the U.S. and Jamaica with his father, who owned a studio, and his mother, a musician whose résumé lists work alongside Beenie Man and Bounty Killer. He gained further experience sitting in on his father’s sessions and deepened his connection to music through church. Shaped by the sounds of Michael Jackson, Childish Gambino, and Drake, he cultivated an alternative R&B style built around a light falsetto and relaxed presence. After Thoughts appeared in 2018, Forest Green expanded his profile by layering hip-hop production over his acoustic guitar foundation.
For the 2020 Columbia Records EP The Shave Experiment, Q moved from the forceful beats of Forest Green to a hazy, hypnotic atmosphere modeled on 1970s soul ensembles such as Earth, Wind & Fire. That year he also joined Baby Rose and Raedio for “Show You (Remix),” which appeared on the season-four soundtrack to the series Insecure. A director’s cut of The Shave Experiment followed in 2021. Q then released a sequence of singles—“Stereo Driver” in 2022 and both “Luv (I Know I Want This for Real)” and “Not Alone” in 2023—all of which landed on Soul, PRESENT when the album arrived in May. A few months later he issued the non-album track “Hello.”
Born Q Marsden in Pembroke Pines, Broward County, Florida, the versatile artist absorbed music from childhood onward during travels between the U.S. and Jamaica with his father, who owned a studio, and his mother, a musician whose résumé lists work alongside Beenie Man and Bounty Killer. He gained further experience sitting in on his father’s sessions and deepened his connection to music through church. Shaped by the sounds of Michael Jackson, Childish Gambino, and Drake, he cultivated an alternative R&B style built around a light falsetto and relaxed presence. After Thoughts appeared in 2018, Forest Green expanded his profile by layering hip-hop production over his acoustic guitar foundation.
For the 2020 Columbia Records EP The Shave Experiment, Q moved from the forceful beats of Forest Green to a hazy, hypnotic atmosphere modeled on 1970s soul ensembles such as Earth, Wind & Fire. That year he also joined Baby Rose and Raedio for “Show You (Remix),” which appeared on the season-four soundtrack to the series Insecure. A director’s cut of The Shave Experiment followed in 2021. Q then released a sequence of singles—“Stereo Driver” in 2022 and both “Luv (I Know I Want This for Real)” and “Not Alone” in 2023—all of which landed on Soul, PRESENT when the album arrived in May. A few months later he issued the non-album track “Hello.”
Albums
Singles
