Music has always been an extremely important part of my life. From listening to 80’s music with my parents at a young age to getting an iPod shuffle to grow my own music taste, and now creating all sorts of playlists on Spotify. Over time my taste in music has broadened immensely, but I always find myself going back and listening to one artist, Quinn XCII (pronounced 92). His music has gotten me through some of the toughest times and brought me even more joy in the brightest of times.
Mikael Temrowski, known as Quinn XCII, started his music career back in 2011 while still attending Michigan State University. During that time is when he changed his stage name to Quinn, standing for “Quit Unless Your Instincts Are Never Neglected,” and then adding 92 to the end for the year he was born. He was doing sets in the area and releasing videos on Youtube before he went to Ann Arbor to record and produce music with his friend and other artist, Ayokay.
Quinn XCII is considered to be in the pop genre but brings in some hip-hop, rap, and other vibes to his music. He was influenced by artists such as Kid Cudi, Jack Johnson, Chance the Rapper, Michael Jackson and more. The music he creates varies from upbeat and fun songs, to slower and very relatable ones.
In May 2015, he released his first debut extended play, Change of Scenery. This first album brought in millions of streams online and was bringing in a bigger audience for him. After the album he continued to release singles and was featured on many other artists’ albums. In 2016 he released another EP and shortly after went on tour and performed for over 20,000 fans in 24 cities.
After the tour, he released the single “Straightjacket.” This single was a hit and featured on his debut album, The Story of Us, released in September 2017. Around this time is when Quinn XCII became very busy with his career.
He began with releasing his single, “Panama”, in honor of his late grandparents. About 2 months later he released the single, “Werewolf”, and a week later released, “Sad Still.” Soon after he teased that he would have a new album coming out at the beginning of 2019. The album From Michigan With Love, was then released February 2019 right after he began his second tour starting in the Netherlands.
Since then he has released more singles and his third studio album, A Letter to My Younger Self, which was released in July 2020. Along with the album he was featured in many other songs of artists such as Chelsea Cutler and Louis the Child. He was also busy doing a few outdoor concerts throughout the United States.
In the past few months, Quinn XCII released the single, “Stay Next to Me”, which features Chelsea Cutler. This single will also be on his newest album, Change of Scenery II, which will be released March 5, 2021. On this album there will be 5 other artists featured on it, with 4 of them being some of his closest friends. Be sure to watch out for this new album coming out within the next few weeks, it should be “an album full of bangers,” as Quinn XCII said.