A consistent mogul in the non-copyrighted music space of 2010s YouTube, Marc Vinyls has been pumping out music for over a decade. He gained popularity by consistently releasing tracks and livestreaming on YouTube, successfully landing placements with Jake Paul, Anthony Joshua, and other global stars, all while maintaining his reputation as an independent artist.

Marco Cowley Rapuano was born on November 16, 1995, and raised about an hour outside the international epicenter of New York City, in the Connecticut town of New Canaan. Vinyls recalls that he began writing rhymes at the age of thirteen, trying to find a hobby in high school after quitting sports, but didn’t start rapping seriously until the age of fifteen. Vinyls idolized fellow Caucasian rapper Mac Miller, who spurred the self-described “delusional” dream of him becoming a rapper from an untraditional background. While attending New Canaan High School, Vinyls met fellow classmate and budding musician Nick Gallo, and the two would upload music to a now-inactive channel called MRapmusic9. In his infancy, Vinyls rapped under the name “ET” because he could do an amusing impression of the movie’s character, before switching to “Heat” around the time he met Gallo, after his favorite NBA team, the Miami Heat, and as a self-absorbed teenager thinking his rap skills were so good he could “spit heat” on the mic.

Around the age of seventeen, Vinyls was briefly in a hip-hop collective with a couple of teenage rappers from neighboring towns, one of whom became rapper Kevin George. His current artist name of “Marc Vinyls” was formed while brainstorming with his groupmates in his basement, eventually settling on the shortening of his first name “Marco” and the pluralization of “vinyl” as he felt he always had an old soul. About a year later, as a sophomore in college, Vinyls released his debut project, an EP titled Reality VS Fiction, aiming to address the juxtaposition of him and his affluent background in the hip-hop sphere. He and Gallo collaborated on its track “Winners”, an early success in both of their careers as Rap Nation decided to feature the song on their popular promoting channel.

Following his EP release, Vinyls kept focusing on music and building his brand, teasing various mixtapes and even an album called Marc My Words before scrapping them all to solely dial in on putting out singles. In 2016, Vinyls went on an eighteen week streak of releasing weekly singles, before challenging himself in August 2017 to release at least a song a week for an entire year. Vinyls promised himself that if he failed the “Weeklys” challenge, he would give up on his dream of becoming a rapper. During this time, Vinyls made some of his biggest hits, including “Angels & Demons,” “Running Free (ft. GALLO),” and “Close My Eyes,” due to non-copyrighted music channels promoting his music to content creators, as well as developing a livestreaming habit to promote the week’s single. Vinyls was further spurred on by the non-copyright community, as one channel promised to re-upload every Weekly as soon Vinyls dropped it. In 2019, European fashion brand MPEREUR sponsored an entire music video for “Angels & Demons” for their luxury shirts, starring Marc Vinyls himself and professionally filming all around New York City.

In the 2020s, Vinyls still consistently pumped out content. During the COVID-19 quarantine, he did another Weeklys challenge to support Gallo on his own year-long journey. In 2024, Vinyls started livestreaming on YouTube every day, building up a new era and community for his fanbase. In 2025, after completing his challenge on YouTube, Vinyls switched to TikTok to host his livestreams. His current brand focuses on spirituality, interacting with his feminine audience, spreading love, and having a more introspective vibe to his music.