Gavin Christopher Tennille (born October 19, 1984), known as Quelle Chris, is an American

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

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 ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

from

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He has released over 15 albums as a solo act and with his collaborative projects.

Career

Tennille was born in

Johnson City, New York Johnson City is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 15,343 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village of Johnson City is in the town of Union and is a part ...

to a shoe designer. Tennille began his music career in the

Detroit hip hop Detroit, Michigan, is a major center in the United States for the creation and performance of music, and is best known for three developments: Motown, early punk rock (or proto-punk), and techno. The Metro Detroit area has a musical history sp ...

scene. His career began expanding as he joined Wasted Youth, where he attracted the attention of other Detroit-based artists such as

J Dilla James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, composer and rapper. He emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michiga ...

and

Proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a co ...

. Tennille and fellow rapper

Denmark Vessey Denmark Martin Vessey (born August 28, 1984) is an American rapper and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He is also a member of hip hop duo Crown Nation with Quelle Chris. He was named after Denmark Vesey, leader of a slave revolt planned ...

later formed a musical group called Crown Nation, in which Tennille soon adopted the pseudonyms Q-Life and Quelle, the latter of which means "source" in German. With credit as a songwriter on several songs on

Danny Brown Daniel Dewan Sewell (born March 16, 1981), better known as Danny Brown, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. He was described by MTV in 2011 as "one of rap's most unique figures in recent memory". After amassing ...

's early albums, he began working on a solo career. His debut studio album, ''Shotgun & Sleek Rifle'', was released in 2011, featuring guest appearances from artists such as Brown, Roc Marciano and Big Tone. He signed with

Mello Music Group Mello Music Group (MMG) is an American independent record label based in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 2007, Mello Music has released hip hop compilations and albums by producers and rappers such as Oddisee, Apollo Brown, Mr. Lif, Ghostface Kil ...

after releasing two

extended plays An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive ...

with the music group Racehorses are Resources, which also consisted of poet John Sinclair. With two studio albums '' Niggas Is Men'' and '' Ghost at the Finish Line'' released on the label in 2013, Tennille produced for musicians such as

Pharoahe Monch Troy Donald Jamerson (born October 31, 1972), better known by his stage name Pharoahe Monch, is an American rapper known for his complex lyrics, intricate delivery, and internal and multisyllabic rhyme schemes.Edwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: ...

, Diamond District and

Open Mike Eagle Michael W. Eagle II (born November 14, 1980), better known by his stage name Open Mike Eagle, is an American hip hop artist and comedian. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, he is now based in Los Angeles, California, where he is a member of the h ...

. His fourth studio album '' Innocent Country'' was released in 2015, followed by the 2016 instrumental album ''Lullabies for the Broken Brain''. His fifth studio album '' Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often'' was released in 2017. He described the album as "about being human. Being great, being flawed, being you". His debut collaborative album titled ''Everything's Fine'' with his life partner

Jean Grae Tsidi Ibrahim (born November 26, 1976), known professionally as Jean Grae, is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. She emerged in New York City's underground hip-hop scene and developed an international following. Throughout her music career, ...

was released on March 30, 2018, via Mello. On March 29, 2019, Tennille released his acclaimed sixth solo album

Guns A gun is a device that propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). Solid projectiles may be ...

. On March 16, 2020, Tennille released his seventh solo album ''

Innocent Country 2 ''Innocent Country 2'' is the second collaborative studio album by American rapper Quelle Chris and record producer Chris Keys. It was released on April 24, 2020 via Mello Music Group, serving as a sequel to their 2015 album ''Innocent Country'' a ...

'' and released it on April 24. It features guest appearances from

Earl Sweatshirt Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), known professionally as Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper and record producer. Kgositsile was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he began rapping in 2008, but changed his na ...

Billy Woods Billy Woods (born 1978) is an American rapper based in New York. He is the founder of the record label Backwoodz Studioz, and has been a member of Armand Hammer, Super Chron Flight Brothers, and The Reavers. Early life Billy Woods was born in W ...

, Tune-Yards'

Merrill Garbus Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the Oakland, California–based music project of Merrill Garbus (vocals, various instruments) and Nate Brenner (bass, various instruments). Garbus's music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and use ...

, Denmark Vessey,

Homeboy Sandman Angel Del Villar II (born September 24, 1980), better known by his stage name Homeboy Sandman, is an American rapper from Elmhurst, Queens, New York, United States. Career Homeboy Sandman recorded and released his first EP, ''Nourishment'', in M ...

, Pink Siifu, and

Josh Gondelman Joshua Lyons Gondelman (born January 15, 1985) is an American author, comedy writer, producer, and stand-up comedian. He was a supervising producer and writer for '' Desus & Mero'' on Showtime. He was previously a writer on ''Last Week Tonight wi ...

. Tennille returned with his seventh album, '' Deathfame'' on May 13, 2022. The 14-track album was primarily produced by himself.

Personal life

In December 2017, he proposed to his longtime partner who is also his frequent collaborator,

. The two married on August 5, 2018.

Discography

Studio albums

Collaborative albums

Instrumental albums

Mixtapes

Awards and nominations

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, ''

Special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces ...

'' ,

Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an award presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the r ...

, , , -

References

{{authority control 1984 births Living people Record producers from New York (state) Rappers from New York (state) Mello Music Group artists 21st-century American rappers