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

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes 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 gen ...

from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

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

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 rich musical hist ...

Career

Tennille was born in

Johnson City, New York Johnson City is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Broome County, New York, Broome County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 15,174 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton, New York, Bin ...

to a shoe designer. Tennille's career began expanding as he joined Wasted Youth and attracted the attention of hip hop recording artists in Detroit such as

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

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 con ...

. He later formed a musical group with Denmark Vessey called Crown Nation and soon began using 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 by his stage name Danny Brown, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He has been described by MTV as "one of rap's most unique figures in recent memory". In 2010, after amassing s ...

'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 Killah ...

after releasing two

extended plays An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

with the music group Racehorses are Resources, which also consisted of poet John Sinclair. With two studio albums ''

Niggas Is Men ''Too Dirt For TV2 – Niggas Is Men'' is a 2013 mixtape album by American rapper and producer Quelle Chris. It featured audio production handled by Messiah Musik, Sifu and Quelle himself, and guest appearances from Bwameeks, Cavalier, Chay, Denmar ...

'' and ''

Ghost at the Finish Line ''Ghost at the Finish Line'' is a solo studio album by American rapper Quelle Chris. It was released via Mello Music Group on October 29, 2013. The thirteen-track record featured guest appearances by the likes of Alchemist, Black Milk, Denmark V ...

'' 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 from South Jamaica, Queens, New York. He is known for his complex lyrics, intricate delivery, and internal and multisyllabic rhy ...

, 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 ''Innocent Country'' is the first collaborative studio album by American rapper Quelle Chris and producer Chris Keys. It was released through Mello Music Group on July 10, 2015. Background San Francisco Bay Area producer Chris Keys and Detroit ra ...

'' 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 ''Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often'' is a solo studio album by American rapper and producer Quelle Chris. It was released via Mello Music Group on February 10, 2017. The seventeen-track record featured guest appearances by the ...

'' 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 (formerly What? What?), is an American rapper from Manhattan, New York City. Jean rose in the underground hip hop scene in New York City and has built an international f ...

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

Guns A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...

. On March 16, 2020, Tennille released his seventh solo album '' Innocent Country 2'' and released it on April 24. It features guest appearances from

Earl Sweatshirt Thebe Neruda Kgositsile (born February 24, 1994), also known by his stage name Earl Sweatshirt, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Kgositsile was originally known by the moniker Sly Tendencies when he began rapping in 2008, ...

billy woods Billy Woods (stylized as billy woods) is an American rapper based in New York. He is also the founder of the record label Backwoodz Studioz. Woods has been a member of Armand Hammer, Super Chron Flight Brothers, and The Reavers. Early life Bill ...

, Tune-Yards’

Merrill Garbus Tune-Yards (stylized as tUnE-yArDs) is the American, Oakland, California–based music project of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner. Garbus's music draws from an eclectic variety of sources and utilizes elements such as loop pedals, ukulele, voca ...

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 ...

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 w ...

. 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

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