Merriam-Webster defines pleasure as, “a state of gratification; a source of delight or joy.” Similarly singer/songwriter Marcus “Pleasure P” Cooper has composed his own unique brand of expression surrounding maturation and life lessons learned that connect to his personal joy. The Carver Ranches, Florida native and former member of the teen heartthrob group Pretty Ricky has not only grown on his journey to now, he’s found more ways to connect to his source of gratification, noting that “a lot of people thought I wasn’t going to amount to anything.” For his Bluestar/Atlantic Records solo debut release, The Introduction of Marcus Cooper, Pleasure P is singing about just how far he has come in his 23 years of life, and why it is so important for him to keep moving forward.

It was a hard knock life for Pleasure P, raised by a single mother with no strong male figures in his life except influences from the streets. As he recalls, “All I knew was what the older cats in the hood taught me and I had a mentality that this way of life is all you get.” As a teenager, whether he pursued trouble or trouble pursued him, the result was the same – music was in the foreground and background of his life, and he began to write songs that would one day become a part of his destiny.