Adrian Marcel's first memory is of singing
Ginuwine's "Pony" -- and then
Frankie Lymon's "Goody, Goody" -- at the age of eight. The R&B singer, a native of East Oakland, attended Oakland School for the Arts and earned early support from Bay Area music giant
Raphael Saadiq, who presented his first mixtape,
7 Days of Weak. A 15-track version was made available for free in April 2013, while major-label Universal Republic knocked it down to seven cuts (with
Wale on an alternate version of "Waiting") for official release a month later. The majority of the songs were written and arranged by
Marcel with Jane Handcock. Their work was produced by the likes of the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Beatroc, Scorp Dezel, JR Beats, and St. Nick, among others, with
8Ball a guest on the
Club Nouveau/
Luniz-referencing "Killa." In February 2014,
Marcel released the relaxed single "2AM," with a guest verse from
Sage the Gemini. It hit the social media charts, and his song "Take Your Time," issued in the fall of 2015, spent ten weeks on Billboard's Rhythmic Songs chart, which reflects radio airplay. Led by the single "Mobbin" featuring
Too $hort,
Lil' Boosie, and
M-City J.R., his official debut LP,
GMFU, arrived via 740 Project and Caroline in the spring of 2017. It was executive produced by
Saadiq. ~ Andy Kellman