User:Jimcclean/sandbox

= Merkules =

Cole Stevenson (born September 27, 1992), known professionally as Merkules, is a Canadian rapper, singer, and lyricist born in Surrey, British Columbia.

= Early life = Cole Stevenson's interest in hip-hop began when he was 10 years old, although he would not begin to make his own music until he was 16. When he was 12 years old, his father would take him to see the rappers Swollen Members, Sweatshop Union, and Saukrates perform in his hometown of Surrey. Inspired by these performances, Stevenson decided to pursue hip-hop as a career. He began to rap when he was 16 years old, using the moniker Merk Mitz. As Merk Mitz, he began performing in hip-hop shows at the Olympia, a restaurant in his home town of Surrey. He went on to enter the music tournament King of the Dot, and rapped over beats by Eminem, Big Pun and others. His ability to rap over popular beats garnered him a wide following. When Stevenson was 16, after leaving a New Year’s Eve party he was attacked by a group of teenagers with a bat and a machete, which left him with scars over his face and under his eyes. The incident caused him to experience anxiety, and he used his music as a means of coping with the aftermath of the attack. He would eventually reflect on the experience on his 2015 album Scars. While on tour as Merk Mitz, Stevenson earned the nickname Merkules, and eventually began using this as his stage name.

Career
At age 20, Stevenson released Canadian Bacon, his first studio album under the moniker Merkules, which was followed shortly after with the EP Bacon Bits. As of 2020 Merkules has released 2 EPs and 8 studio albums in total which include Hunger Pains, Scars, Trust Your Gut, Cole, Special Occasion, and Force of Habit. His album Special Occasion debuted at #2 on the iTunes charts. Merkules is well known for his remixes of popular songs which he uploads to his YouTube channel “Young Merkules”. His most popular remix, “Old Town Road”, reached #3 on YouTube trending worldwide and has received over 40 million views. Merkules’ songs have received over 316 million views on YouTube, and his music has been streamed over 200 million times. Merkules has been nominated three times for Western Canadian Music Awards, and has played more than 700 shows across North America, Europe, and Australia. He has collaborated with many other musicians including Snak the Ripper, Kevin Gates, The Game, E-40, Chris Webby, Lil Windex, and Evil Ebenezer. He has also collaborated with former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, on the song “Want That Smoke Freestyle”.

Influences
Stevenson has cited his musical influences as Eminem, Big L, Big Pun, and Busta Rhymes, and described his own music as a cross between DMX, Jadakiss, and Everlast.

Albums/EPs

 * Bacon Bits (EP, 2012)
 * Canadian Bacon (2012)
 * Hunger Pains (2013)
 * Scars (2015)
 * Creepy From The Hood (EP, 2016)
 * Trust Your Gut (2017)
 * Cole (2018)
 * Special Occasion (2019)
 * Apply Pressure (2020)
 * Force of Habit (2020)

Mixtapes

 * Bad and Boujee Remix (2017)
 * Black Beatles Remix (2017)
 * Closer Remix (2017)
 * Fuck Up the Commas Remix (2017)
 * Mask Off Remix (2017)
 * Panda Remix (2017)
 * Shape of You Remix (2017)
 * Sucker for Pain Remix (2017)
 * Tunnel Vision Remix (2017)
 * Betrayed Remix (2018)
 * Havana Remix (2018)
 * Him & I Remix (2018)
 * Plug Walk Remix (2018)
 * Taste Remix (2018)
 * Old Town Road Remix (2019)