QBoy

Born and raised in Basildon, Essex, UK to an English mother and Spanish father, Marcos Brito started recording under the name 'QBoy' in 2001 after friend (editor and creator of revolutionary site gayhiphop.com) DJ MistaMaker encouraged him to "spit on a track". QBoy took over as editor of gayhiphop.com (which he ran for 4 years) and in the same period, QBoy and MistaMaker teamed up with Brighton DJs Gideon, NineBob, and fashion artist Noki and they ran the UK's first gay hip-hop club "Pac-Man: A Chi Chi Man Sound". QBoy then formed the Q-Fam collective in 2002, with Pac-Man DJs and several new rappers and singers and they toured in 2003. QBoy then released his debut E.P. "Even The Women Like Him" in 2004, spawning the singles and videos "Quarter Life Crisis" and "Q.B.O.Y. (Is Just So Fly)". In 2005 QBoy presented and led the BBC Radio 1 documentary "The Rise Of Homo-Hop" after creating and performing at Europe's first gay hip-hop festival "PeaceOut UK". His next release in 2006 "Remixes Don't Count – The Mixtape" featured his anti-bullying track "A Deal With God" – based on his own experiences at school of being bullied for being gay - which was remixed by Tom Robinson and featured a distinctive Kate Bush sample. This led him to present the Channel 4 documentary "Coming Out To Class" in 2007 for which he is highly acclaimed. It highlighted homophobia in the classroom and the lack of support young gay teens have in school, leading to an Early Day Motion at the House of Commons. He subsequently got involved in several school programmes to help break down homophobic attitudes in schools across the UK. That same year he went on a 10-date USA tour after being featured in the film "Pick Up The Mic: The Revolution Of Homo-Hop" and he supported Boy George Live at London's Koko. In 2009 QBoy travelled to New York to interview rap legends Salt-N-Pepa and co-produced the BBC Radio 1Xtra documentary 'Push It: Salt-N-Pepa'. His 2009 album "Moxie" featured the MTV LOGO top 10 hit video "Coming Out 2 Play" and he gave an outstanding performance on the main stage at Pride London in Trafalgar Square the following summer to a crowd of 15,000 people. BBC6 Introducing… then featured his track "Set It Up/Pull It Off" on their end of year best-of show. He has since lent his vocals to other projects by Larry Tee, Levi Kreis, Peppermint and Swick. As well as club dates, QBoy has performed and played at British festivals Glastonbury and Bestival and was invited onto the main stage by his idols Salt-N-Pepa at South West Four festival in 2010. He has also interviewed a number of people for several publications (BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1Xtra, Gay Times, QX) including; Salt-N-Pepa, Mark Ronson, Blu Cantrell, Mica Paris, Beverley Knight, Princess Superstar, Nicole Wray and Eve. Skilled as a producer, songwriter, rapper, dancer and DJ, QBoy's talents are obvious and his live performances are always high energy and captivating. This year he has already performed live with pop artist Lily Allen and was was the DJ for the official Queerty / American Pavilion party during Cannes Film Festival.