QBoy (born Marcos Jose Brito on 10 October 1978) is a UK-based

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

, producer, DJ, writer and presenter. He is one of the original few out rappers in

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

circa 2001 that became pioneers of the new subgenre colloquially known as "

homo hop LGBTQ representation in hip-hop music has existed since the birth of the genre even while enduring blatant discrimination. Due to its adjacency to disco, the earliest days of hip-hop had a close relation to LGBTQ subcultures, and multiple LGBT ...

". QBoy is currently a DJ and promoter of popular LGBTQ club night and party 'R & She: The Queens of Hip-Hop & R&B' which hosts events in London, Berlin and New York City.

Early life

Brito was born to an English mother and

Gomeran Gombaran (, also Romanized as Gombarān; also known as Gomerān) is a village in Salakh Rural District, Shahab District, Qeshm County, Hormozgan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia ...

(Spanish) father. He studied at

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and received his Contemporary Dance, Acting and Performing Arts

B.A. (Hons) A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

degree. Brito was originally in a group with DJ Mistermaker and rapper Ill Form, recording under the name of Q-Form. Their first recordings, "Dirty Dirty" and "3 Different Stories", were featured on homo-hop CD collections ''Phat Family volume 1'' and ''Phat Family volume 2'', respectively. He was also part of the gay hip-hop DJ crew Pac-Man, which featured DJs NineBob, Gideon, Mistermaker and fashion artist Noki. Q-Form changed its name to Q-Fam (for ''Queer Family'') and its status from a group to a collective, to include Pac-Man members NineBob, Gideon, Noki and lesbian rapper Mz Fontaine, with whom they recorded the track "New Era." Later members of Q-Fam included singer-songwriter/producer Wayne Latham, rapper Icykal and vocalists Grace Orlando and Katanya. UK gay magazine ''

The Pink Paper The ''Pink Paper'' was a UK publication covering gay and lesbian issues published by Millivres Prowler Limited. Founded in 1987 as a newspaper, it switched to internet-only publication in June 2009. The decision to go online-only was announced ...

'' featured the Q-Fam Collective with QBoy and Mistermaker on the front cover.

Career

2004–2006: Beginnings

QBoy's initial recordings had a tongue-in-cheek sexual humour which was inspired by his then current influences of artist such as

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

, Foxy Brown,

Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

and

Trina Katrina Laverne Kearse (née Taylor; born December 3, 1974), is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in the late 1990s for her collaborations with Trick Daddy on the singles " Nann Nigga", " Shut Up", and " Take It to da House". In 2000, ...

, with the notion "if they can be sexual explicit, so can I" making a political standpoint on his prominent sexuality. In 2004, QBoy released his first extended play "Even the Women Like Him". His first soulful and conscious track ''Quarter Life Crisis'' sampled long time idol

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (; born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, rapper, occasional disc jockey, and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a numb ...

's hit ''Buffalo Stance'' and featured singer and producer Wayne Latham with lyrics inspired by his childhood, explaining the transformation from child to adult and drawing from his readings of the book

Conversations With God ''Conversations with God'' (''CWG'') is a sequence of books written by Neale Donald Walsch. It was written as a dialogue in which Walsch asks questions and God answers. The first book of the ''Conversations with God'' series, ''Conversations ...

Neale Donald Walsch Neale Donald Walsch (born September 10, 1943) is an American author of the series '' Conversations with God''. He is also an actor, screenwriter, and speaker. Biography Walsch was brought up as a Catholic by a family who encouraged his quest fo ...

. QBoy shot his first music video, ''Quarter Life Crisis'', in September 2004 in London. The video also features the track "Bent Spittin" and is directed by Khalid Laith. He continued writing in this style with the track "A Deal With God" which originally cleverly used

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

's ''Running Up That Hill'' and covered his experiences of

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

when at school. This propelled him into a more political stratosphere, performing for the Home Office, UK Government in 2006, and making him a patron of the charity Beatbullying and the LGBT Excellence Centre Wales for which he is involved in a programme that goes into schools and breaks down the ideas of homophobia to teenagers. In 2005, QBoy received a nomination for "Performing Artist of the Year" at the 2005 GALAs. In August 2005, QBoy organised PeaceOUT UK, the first gay hip-hop festival in Europe. He also co-organised the following year's event in 2006.

2006–2008: Remixes Don't Count: The Mixtape and various singles

In 2006, he released his first mixtape "Remixes Don't Count: The Mixtape". In July 2006, he was featured in the homo-hop documentary '' Pick Up the Mic'' and toured with the film, performing at film festivals in Los Angeles (

Outfest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

), Chicago (The

Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was s ...

) and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Later that month, he shot his second music video, ''Q.B.O.Y. (Is Just So Fly)'' in New York. This video was directed by Jarrah Gurrie and fashion photographer Nicolas Wagner. Later that year, he was featured

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's live TV discussion show ''40 Years Out''. In 2008, QBoy released two singles "Oh Yeah!" and "Faggot M.C.'s". In late 2008, he toured the US for three months, making New York City his temporary home where he shot the music video to his single "Coming Out 2 Play" with previous director Jarrah Gurrie. He also played extensively with over 30 live dates in New York City,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

and

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

in Florida, and Chicago where he also shot a music video with Johnny Dangerous to their single ''Hotline'' which also features rapper Soce and he made a cameo appearance in Johnny Dangerous's video ''Wan Dat (Ass Is)''. Plus he got extensive media coverage in HX,

Next NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...

and interviews with

Jonny McGovern Jonny McGovern (born July 12, 1976) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, songwriter, and podcaster. He has written the lyrics for many of his own songs, and recorded three comedy/dance-pop albums (including some under his alter-e ...

, Daniel Nardicio, Shawn Hollenbach and

Feast of Fools The Feast of Fools or Festival of Fools (Latin: ''festum fatuorum'', ''festum stultorum'') was a feast day on January 1 celebrated by the clergy in Europe during the Middle Ages, initially in Southern France, but later more widely. During the Fe ...

2009–2010: Moxie

In July 2009, QBoy released his first album ''Moxie''. The album's lead single and music video to "Coming Out 2 Play" reached No. 6 in the US LOGO Click Chart and was nominated as one of the best new videos of 2010 by LOGO. In February 2010, he released the singles "Keep Keepin' On" and "Yellow Flower" both with music videos. In March 2010, he released the fourth single "Bounce Rave" also promoted with a music video. The DVD release of documentary Pick Up The Mic in which QBoy is one of the featured artists was also released.

2011–2013: New project and moniker

QBoy recorded several tracks, including "Party Girl", with NYC producer/DJ Larry Tee under the moniker Sam LeMans in 2011. It was released on Beatport as a single and featured on Larry Tee's album ''Super Electric Party Machine''. Also in 2011, QBoy performed a LIVE set at Glastonbury Festival within Block 9 at the NYC Downlow. In 2012, as co-promoter and DJ, QBoy started roadblock party "R & She: A Night Dedicated To The QUEENS Of R&B And HIP-HOP From The 90s To Present" with fellow DJs Neil Prince and David Oh in Dalston, London originally at "Vogue Fabrics" and then moved to larger venue "Tipsy". In the same year he also started the hip-hop and R&B party "Put It In Your Mouth" at venue "Dalston Superstore" also with Neil Prince. Both parties attracted a large queer following. In 2013, QBoy was booked to DJ at Block 9 at Glastonbury Festival with his party "R & She", which hosted the Vogue Fabrics space within the NYC Downlow. In June 2013, QBoy started the first queer hip-hop party in Spain with promoter Pepo Bethencourt and DJ "Cascales" AKA Agustin Gomez Cascales, then deputy editor of Spanish gay magazine '"Shangay". The party quickly got invited to regularly host a room at Madrid's popular gay party "Stardust" at venue "Sala Cool" and at Barcelona's "Razzmatazz" club. The party only lasted successfully for one year but attracted much attention from local and national media for its originality. In July 2013, QBoy alongside promoter Paul Bonham launched "GULLY LIVE", a LIVE performance-based event designed to give a platform to queer hip-hop artist visiting the UK on tour. The first show was held at "VICE" magazine owned venue "Birthdays" in Dalston, London and featured headline US rapper "Cakes Da Killa" with his first ever UK date. He was supported by performances by QBoy and UK rapper "Evon" with DJ "Mistamaker" and hosted by "NineBob". The second "GULLY LIVE" was held again with support from "VICE" magazine, this time at their venue "The Old Blue Last" in Shoreditch in February 2014 during London Fashion Week. Headline acts were QBoy and US rapper "AB Soto" and support came from "Jai Rouge", DJ "Mistamaker" and hosted by "NineBob". This time fashion designers were invited to dress the performers to tie in with London Fashion Week and they included Roberto Piqueras, NOKI, Digby Jackson and TZUJI by Larry Tee.

2014–2016: QING

In 2014, QBoy released a new single "Music Makes Us Dance" featuring singer Darkwah. The video for "Music Makes Us Dance" was shot in and around Shoreditch and Dalston, London, where QBoy is based professionally. QBoy then had a selection of summer tour dates around Europe that included performing and playing (DJ) at the Milkshake festival in Amsterdam, UK festivals

Secret Garden Party The Secret Garden Party, often colloquially shortened to the SGP, is an independent music festival, arts and music festival held in Abbots Ripton, England. The location is on part of the grounds of a Georgian farmhouse and has its own lakes, river ...

and

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

Brighton Pride Brighton and Hove Pride is an annual LGBT pride event held in the city of Brighton and Hove, England, organised by Brighton Pride, a community interest company (CIC) which promotes equality and diversity, and advances education to eliminate dis ...

and parties "Sissy" in Berlin and "Boyakasha" in Zurich. His party "R & She" also hosted a tent at The Secret Garden Party. In 2015, QBoy released a single and music video "DragOn", featuring Norwegian goth-rock artist "Ray Noir" and rapper and DJ "FRANK.co". The song and video has a strong ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

'' theme. In 2016, QBoy released his visual EP ''QING'', (pronounced 'KING' as in a deck of cards, which was the theme of the project) featuring videos for "DragOn", "Show Me Your Deck" sponsored by webcam service CAM4, "Set It Up", a cover version of 1979 classic "Pop Muzik" and an updated remix of "Music Makes Us Dance". In September 2017, he disclosed on his Facebook page that he had been living with

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

for 6 years and that he was healthy and

undetectable Treatment as prevention (TasP) is a concept in public health that promotes treatment as a way to prevent and reduce the likelihood of HIV illness, death and transmission from an infected individual to others. Expanding access to earlier HIV diagn ...

. In the statement he explained he wanted to share the information "as maybe someone else out there is having a difficult time coming to terms with their own diagnosis. Or perhaps it could break down the stigma of HIV in someone's mind a little?"

Other ventures

Interviewer and writer

In his early years, Brito was a journalist and editor of the websit
gayhiphop.com.
He has written for ''

Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''GAY TIMES Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ magazine established in 1984. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company began including content for the LGBTQ+ comm ...

'', ''

attitude Attitude or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

'', ''

'' and ''Exprezo'' and has interviewed artists

Salt-N-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (sometimes stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa) is an American hip-hop, hip hop group formed in New York City in 1985, that comprised Salt (rapper), Salt (Cheryl James), Pepa (rapper), Pepa (Sandra Denton), and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper). ...

Princess Superstar Concetta Suzanne Kirschner (born February 25, 1971), better known as Princess Superstar, is an American rapper, singer and DJ. She has had two chart hits in the UK, the humorous song "Bad Babysitter", which reached number 11 on the UK Singles ...

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, ''The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke ...

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, record producer, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year for Amy Winehouse's album '' Back to Black'' (2006), as well as two for Record ...

Blu Cantrell Tiffany Cobb (born March 16, 1976), known professionally as Blu Cantrell, is an American contemporary R&B, R&B singer. Cantrell rose to fame in 2001, with the release of her debut single, "Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)", which peaked at number two ...

Mica Paris Michelle Antoinette Wallen (born 27 April 1969), known professionally as Mica Paris ( ), is an English singer, presenter, and actress. Her debut album, '' So Good'', was released in 1988, spawning the singles " My One Temptation" and " Where I ...

Nicole Wray Nicole Monique Wray (born May 2, 1979, also known as Lady Wray, is an American singer and songwriter. Her 1998 debut single " Make It Hot" was certified gold. In the 2010s, she began pursuing a more traditional soul sound, first as part of the d ...

and

Five Star Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) were a British Pop music, pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman Pearson, Stedman, Lorraine, Denise Pearson, Denise, Doris, and Delroy Pearson. From 1985 to 1988, Five Star had four top-20 a ...

. In 2005, he also presented a radio documentary on "The Rise of Homo-Hop" for

BBC Radio One BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, hi ...

. In February 2007, he presented the much-acclaimed TV documentary
Coming Out to Class
' for

where he looked at his own experiences of homophobic bullying at his school and investigating what today's young gay teens are experiencing and demonstrating the lack of support they currently have. The personal and political nature of the film prompted an immediate response from the British Parliament the day after its initial screening where an

Early Day Motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by a member of Parliament, which the Government (in charge of parliamentary business) has not yet scheduled for debate. Hi ...

was passed in favour to look at the subject brought up in the film. He supported the TV documentary with two radio podcasts for

Channel 4 Radio Channel 4 Radio was a radio brand in the United Kingdom, launched by Channel Four Television Corporation Channel Four Television Corporation is a British state-owned_enterprise, state-owned media company which runs 12 television channels, a ...

which he also presented. In December 2007, he interviewed his long-time idols, rap supergroup

in New York City for a radio documentary he created and co-produced with Made in Manchester Productions which was aired on

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

Discography

;Albums * 2009: ''Moxie'' * 2011: ''Moxie – Remixes'' ;Mixtapes * 2006: ''Remixes Don't Count: The Mixtape'' ;Extended Plays * 2004: ''Even the Women Like Him'' * 2016: ''QING'' ;Singles * 2004: Quarter Life Crisis * 2006: Q.B.O.Y. (Is Just So Fly) * 2008: Oh Yeah! * 2008: Faggot M.C.'s (featuring Johnny Dangerous) * 2008: Come Out 2 Play * 2010: Yellow Flower * 2010: Bounce Rave * 2010: Keep Keepin' On (featuring Wayne Latham) * 2014: Music Makes Us Dance (featuring Darkwah) * 2015: DragOn (featuring Ray Noir & FRANK.co) ;Guest Features * 2006: Keep Outta My Vicinity (Wayne Latham featuring QBoy) * 2007: Does Your Mother Know (Dusty 'O' featuring QBoy) * 2007: My Family (Bigg Nugg featuring QBoy & Deadlee) * 2008: Hotline (Johnny Dangerous featuring QBoy & Soce) * 2008: Don't Speak (Matthew Duffy featuring QBoy) * 2009: Str8 Boy! (Peppermint featuring QBoy) * 2010: JUMP DJ Volume 1 - Bounce Rave (Mixes) (Charity compilation featuring QBoy, Disco Damage, Peppermint, T-Total, Dickey Doo, Luminium) * 2011: Juicy (Claudia Patrice featuring Sam LeMans) * 2013: Party Girl (Super Electric Party Machine featuring Sam LeMans & Larry Tee) * 2013: Love Revolution (Levis Kreis featuring QBoy)

References

External links

QBoy official websiteQBoy YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Qboy 1978 births Living people English male rappers English record producers English gay musicians British LGBTQ rappers English people of Canarian descent Alumni of De Montfort University People from Basildon English male journalists Musicians from Essex People with HIV/AIDS 20th-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English LGBTQ people