Madison McFerrin is an independent, genre-bending singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for her understated yet emotionally open mix of a cappella, electronic pop, jazz, and soul. She issued two a cappella-based EPs before releasing 2019's You + I, produced with her brother Taylor McFerrin, and in 2023 offered her first album, the primarily self-produced I Hope You Can Forgive Me.

Born in 1992 in San Francisco, McFerrin was raised in a creative family surrounded by the music of her father, Bobby McFerrin, as well as albums by Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Nina Simone. By age five, she knew she wanted to be a singer, a talent she pursued throughout her school years while living in Minneapolis and Philadelphia. After high school, she honed her skills at Boston's Berklee College of Music where she focused on songwriting, influenced by her love of the Beatles, Erykah Badu, and Bob Dylan. It was during this period that she formed the funk band Cosmodrome, playing bars and clubs. Following her graduation, she moved to Brooklyn, playing in the electronic duo Binary Soul and touring alongside her father.

Transitioning to solo work in 2016, she issued two EPs, Finding Foundations, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, both of which showcased her vocal-based, a cappella sound. McFerrin returned in 2019 with her third EP, You + I, which found her collaborating with her brother and producer Taylor McFerrin and expanding her sound with varied instrumentation. Included was the song "Try," for which she released a video that addressed the negative response to her viral 2016 performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner." McFerrin was behind a handful of singles and collaborations during the first few years of the 2020s, including "Guilty," her reaction to the verdict of the criminal case against Derek Chauvin, the police officer who murdered George Floyd. In 2023, she released I Hope You Can Forgive Me, her first full-length. Among the album's previews was "(Please Don't) Leave Me Now," written about her near-death experience in a car accident. While that song was a collaboration with producer Andrew Lappin, the majority of I Hope You Can Forgive Me was produced by McFerrin herself. ~ Matt Collar