# Quinn XCII

Mikael Temrowski (born May 6, 1992), known by his stage name Quinn XCII (pronounced "Quinn ninety-two"), is an American singer-songwriter from Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He began his career in 2011 when he started writing and recording his own music as a sophomore at Michigan State University, before releasing his debut EP Change of Scenery in May 2015. On September 15, 2017, he released his debut studio album The Story of Us under Columbia Records, with whom he would release his second, third, and fourth albums, all in the following four years.
After signing to Republic Records, he released his fifth studio album The People's Champ in 2023; it was followed by three meal-themed EPs culminating in his sixth album Quinn XCII Presents Mustard Mike's Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, released in December 2024.

## Early life

Mikael Temrowski was born on May 6, 1992, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He grew up listening to the city's Motown musical history.
He met his primary producer and close friend Ayokay in third grade of elementary school and remained close friends throughout high school. Temrowski began attending college at Michigan State University, where he took an interest in writing and recording music as a sophomore.

## Career
### 2011–2016: Early career and EPs

Temrowski originally went by the stage name "Mike T" and started performing and uploading videos to the video-sharing website YouTube. In college, he adopted the name Quinn based on an acronym used by a professor: "Quit Unless Your Instincts Are Never Neglected." Because of trademark issues, he later added the Roman numerals for 92, the two-digit abbreviation for 1992, the year of his birth.
Quinn XCII rapped over beats sampled from popular songs until 2011, when he released his own original song, "They Know", followed by his first extended play Old Fashioned, on November 5, 2012. During his attendance at Michigan State University, sometime around 2014, Temrowski started taking a more serious interest in writing and recording music. He and his longtime friend and producer, who has gone by the stage name Ayokay, began producing music together, with Quinn XCII rapping over beats Ayokay found on YouTube. Quinn XCII quickly became a college mixtape sensation, and he would travel frequently to Ann Arbor to record new music with Ayokay.
During May 2015, Quinn XCII released his debut extended play entitled Change of Scenery, which garnered millions of online streams. His next single, "Stung", climbed to the #1 position on Hype Machine's Popular Charts. In January 2016, Quinn XCII was featured on Ayokay's own single entitled "Kings of Summer", which soared to #1 on the Spotify Global Viral Chart, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks, in addition to 25 million streams on Spotify. His collaboration with producer Illenium on a track entitled "With You" reached #1 on the HypeMachine Popular Chart and reached #20 on the Spotify Global Viral Chart.
On March 10, 2016, Quinn XCII released his highly anticipated second EP titled Bloom. Shortly after releasing the EP, Quinn XCII went on his first nationwide tour, where he performed in 24 cities for over 20,000 fans.

### 2016–2018: The Story of Us

On December 9, 2016, Quinn XCII released his new single "Straightjacket", taken off of his upcoming debut album The Story of Us. A non-album single was released titled "Make Time", succeeded by two singles from the album that were released preceding the album's release in 2017, "Fake Denim" and "Worst". The Story of Us was released on September 15, 2017, under Columbia Records. A deluxe edition of the album was released on February 16, 2018, supported by the new single "Iron & Steel".
In April 2018, it was announced that Quinn XCII was added to the management roster of Visionary Music Group through a partnership with his manager Jesse Coren.

### 2018–2020: From Michigan with Love

Quinn XCII released his first single since A Story of Us titled "Panama" on August 22, 2018, on the music-sharing website SoundCloud and on all platforms on August 29. He wrote the song in honor of his four late grandparents. On October 23, 2018, Quinn XCII announced a new upcoming single titled "Werewolf" featuring Yoshi Flower, and was released two days later on October 25. A week later, he released another single "Sad Still" on November 1, centered around the struggles and feelings of dealing with anxiety. He soon announced his second album titled From Michigan with Love via social media on November 5, 2018, which contains the latter two singles. The album was teased for an early 2019 release date. On December 11, 2018, Quinn XCII announced the third single off the album, titled "Tough" featuring Noah Kahan, and was released on December 14.
On November 6, 2018, Quinn XCII announced his worldwide 2019 tour for From Michigan with Love, titled "From Tour with Love". The tour includes shows at 8 cities in Europe and then 30 cities in North America with Christian French and Ashe co-headlining the tour. The tour kicks off in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on February 3, and then the North American leg on February 19 in Indianapolis, Indiana, and ends on April 17 in Austin, Texas.
Quinn XCII announced via social media on January 7, 2019, that From Michigan with Love is set to be released on February 15. On February 15, it was released with 12 songs.
Quinn XCII teased his new single "Stacy" on June 18, 2019, on Twitter. The single was released that week on June 21, 2019.

### 2020: A Letter to My Younger Self

On January 10, 2020, he released a single titled "Two 10s".
On April 27, 2020, Quinn XCII announced his third studio album A Letter to My Younger Self, inspired by a lifetime of events and experiences. It was released on July 10, 2020. On April 28, 2020, he teased his new single titled "Coffee" with Marc E. Bassy that was released on Friday, May 1, 2020.

### 2021: Change of Scenery II

Quinn XCII released his fourth studio album on March 5, 2021. Abandoning his residence in Los Angeles, the album was produced at ayokay's family home in Rhode Island. He released two singles ahead of the release, "Stay Next to Me (with Chelsea Cutler)" and "My Wife & 2 Dogs"

### 2023-present: The People's Champ and Mustard Mike's

On January 27, 2023, Quinn XCII released his fifth studio album, entitled The People's Champ, via a deal with Republic Records. The album was supported by four singles ahead of the release, "Backpack", "Common (featuring Big Sean)", "Let Me Down (with Chelsea Cutler), and "The Lows".

## Style

Quinn XCII has been known to blend several different genres of music, including hip-hop, pop, reggae, rock, electronic and soul. His early music had him focused more on rapping than singing. He has listed Kid Cudi, Kanye West, Mos Def, Jack Johnson, Jon Bellion, Michael Jackson, Sam Cooke, and Chance the Rapper as artists who have influenced him.

## Discography
### Studio albums

| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | US |
| The Story of Us | Released: September 17, 2017 Label: Columbia Format: CD, LP, digital download, streaming | — |
| From Michigan with Love | Released: February 15, 2019 Label: Columbia Format: Digital download, streaming | 90 |
| A Letter to My Younger Self | Released: July 10, 2020 Label: Columbia Format: Digital download, streaming | 56 |
| Change of Scenery II | Released: March 5, 2021 Label: Columbia Format: Digital download, streaming | 69 |
| The People's Champ | Released: January 27, 2023 Label: Republic Format: CD, digital download, streaming | 180 |
| Quinn XCII Presents Mustard Mike's Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner | Released: December 6, 2024 Label: AWAL Format: Digital download, streaming | — |

### Extended plays

| Title | EP details |
| Old Fashioned (as Mike T) | Released: November 5, 2012 Label: Self-released Format: digital download, streaming |
| Shlup | Released: August 11, 2013 Label: Self-released Format: digital download, streaming |
| Change of Scenery | Released: April 28, 2015 Label: Self-released Format: digital download, streaming |
| Bloom | Released: March 9, 2016 Label: Self-released Format: digital download, streaming |
| Breakfast | Released: May 3, 2024 Label: AWAL Format: digital download, streaming |
| Lunch | Released: September 20, 2024 Label: AWAL Format: digital download, streaming |
| Dinner | Released: December 6, 2024 Label: AWAL Format: digital download, streaming |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with certifications :
| Title | Year | Certifications | Album |
| "Full Circle" | 2015 | | Non-album singles |
| "Stung" | 2015 | | Non-album singles |
| "Good Friend" | 2015 | | Bloom |
| "Straightjacket" | 2016 | RIAA: Platinum | The Story of Us |
| "Make Time" | 2017 | | Non-album single |
| "Fake Denim" | 2017 | | The Story of Us |
| "Worst" | 2017 | | The Story of Us |
| "Always Been You" | 2017 | RIAA: Gold | The Story of Us |
| "Iron & Steel" | 2018 | | The Story of Us (Deluxe Version) |
| "Panama" | 2018 | | Non-album single |
| "Werewolf" (with Yoshi Flower) | 2018 | | From Michigan with Love |
| "Sad Still" | 2018 | | From Michigan with Love |
| "Tough" (with Noah Kahan) | 2018 | | From Michigan with Love |
| "Life Must Go On" (with Jon Bellion) | 2019 | | From Michigan with Love |
| "Stacy" | 2019 | RIAA: Gold MC: Gold | A Letter to My Younger Self |
| "Two 10s" | 2020 | | A Letter to My Younger Self |
| "Coffee" (with Marc E. Bassy) | 2020 | | A Letter to My Younger Self |
| "A Letter to My Younger Self" (featuring Logic) | 2020 | | A Letter to My Younger Self |
| "Stay Next to Me" (with Chelsea Cutler) | 2020 | RIAA: Gold | Change of Scenery II |
| "Backpack" | 2022 | | The People's Champ |
| "Common" (with Big Sean) | |
| "Let Me Down" (with Chelsea Cutler) | |
| "The Lows" | 2023 | |
| "Pasadena" | 2024 | | Quinn XCII Presents Mustard Mike's Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner |
| "Close Calls" | 2024 | | Quinn XCII Presents Mustard Mike's Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner |
| "Melt" | 2024 | | Quinn XCII Presents Mustard Mike's Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner |
| "Unconditional" | 2024 | | Quinn XCII Presents Mustard Mike's Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner |

#### As featured artist

List of singles as featured artist, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | US Bub. | US Dance Elec. | Certifications | Album |
| "100 Degrees" (KOLAJ featuring Quinn XCII) | 2016 | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Sweet Talk" (Academy featuring Quinn XCII) | 2016 | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Something from Nothing" (GRMM featuring Quinn XCII) | 2016 | — | — | | Scenes |
| "Kings of Summer" (Ayokay featuring Quinn XCII) | 2016 | — | 18 | RIAA: Platinum | 4ft to Infinity |
| "Space" (Prince Fox featuring Quinn XCII) | 2017 | — | — | | All This Music, Vol. 1 |
| "Winnebago" (Gryffin featuring Quinn XCII & Daniel Wilson) | 2018 | — | 38 | | Non-album singles |
| "Middle Finger" (Phoebe Ryan featuring Quinn XCII) | 2018 | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "The City" (Louis the Child with Quinn XCII) | 2018 | — | 24 | | Kids at Play |
| "Alive" (YOG$ with Quinn XCII) | 2018 | — | — | | Universe From Here |
| "Love Me Less" (MAX featuring Quinn XCII) | 2019 | 1 | — | RIAA: Gold MC: Platinum | Colour Vision |
| "Little Things" (Louis the Child featuring Chelsea Cutler and Quinn XCII) | 2020 | — | 14 | | Here for Now |
| "West Coast" (Dvbbs featuring Quinn XCII) | 2020 | — | — | MC: Gold | Non-album singles |
| "Daddy" (Tiny Meat Gang featuring Quinn XCII) | 2021 | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Smile" (Dvbbs and Cash Cash featuring Quinn XCII) | 2024 | — | — | | Non-album singles |

### Other charted and certified songs

List of singles as lead artist, with certifications :
| Title | Year | Certifications | Album |
| "Another Day in Paradise" | 2015 | RIAA: Gold | Change of Scenery |
| "Flare Guns" (featuring Chelsea Cutler) | 2017 | RIAA: Gold | The Story of Us |

### Guest appearances

| Title | Year | Album |
| "You Should Get to Know Me" (Jeremy Zucker featuring Quinn XCII) | 2015 | Breathe |
| "With You" (Illenium featuring Quinn XCII) | 2016 | Ashes |
| "One in the Same" (Ayokay featuring Quinn XCII) | 2016 | 4ft to Infinity |
| "Giving Up Ground" (Chelsea Cutler featuring Quinn XCII) | 2017 | Snow In October |
| "Queen" (Ayokay featuring Quinn XCII) | 2018 | In the Shape of a Dream |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
| 2020 | From Michigan, With Love | Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Major Label Recording | Nominated | |