TQ

A native of Compton, California, TQ, born Terrance Quaites on May 24, 1976, found success as a teenager in the R&B boy band Coming of Age. He and his bandmates scored a top 40 hit with “Coming Home to Love” in 1992, but broke up three years later. TQ launched his solo career with the 1998 debut single “Westside”. His love-letter to his home state of California also acted as a tribute to many west- coast rappers who influenced his style. The single hit number 12 on the American pop chart, but did even better overseas going top 10 in numerous countries including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Australia. His debut album, They Never Saw Me Comin’, contained the follow-up single “Bye Bye Baby,” which failed to chart in his home country, but returned him to the top 10 in Germany and the Netherlands. Both his sophomore album, The Second Coming and its first single, “Daily,” failed to gain traction, and the same fate befell 2004’s Listen…. He featured regularly on other people’s releases including work by Imaan Faith, Mike Mosley, Big Steele, and Lil Wayne, and collaborated with Miami Vice composer Jan Hammer, while continuing to release new work of his own.