Amy Renee Noonan, known by her stage name Qveen Herby, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. She first gained fame as part of the music duo Karmin, with whom she released two studio albums. Following the duo's hiatus in 2017, she began the solo project Qveen Herby, which incorporated R&B and hip hop influences. She released her first solo extended play, EP 1 on June 2, 2017, preceded by the single "Busta Rhymes".
Career
2010–2016: Music with Karmin
Heidemann began her musical career as a member of pop duo Karmin, with now-husband Nick Noonan, releasing cover songs on YouTube. The group signed with Epic and released their debut EP, Hello, on May 7, 2012, to mixed reviews from critics; despite this, the EP was a commercial success supplemented by two hit singles: "Brokenhearted" reached the top 20 in the US BillboardHot 100 charts, and the top 10 in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, while "Hello" reached number one on the BillboardHot Dance Club Songs charts in the United States. The duo followed Hello up by their debut full-length studio album, Pulses, which saw less commercial success, and was supplemented by the single "Acapella." Following the conclusion of promotion for Pulses, Karmin left Epic Records and began releasing music independently. They released a slew of singles from 2014 to 2016 in anticipation of a second studio album. These included "Sugar", "Yesterday", "Along the Road", "Didn't Know You", and "Come With Me ". In 2016, Karmin released the Sugar EP in collaboration with Wild Culture. It features three remixes of "Sugar" and a remix of Riley Pearce's single "Brave". The duo released their second studio album, Leo Rising, on September 9, 2016.
2017–present: Rebranding as Qveen Herby
In 2017, all of Karmin's social media was rebranded to Qveen Herby and a small preview stating "Karmin Is Dead, Long Live the Qveen." was posted. Noonan formally announced her solo career as well as her debut extended play, EP 1. Although her husband Nick was still involved in the project, Noonan noted that they felt that they could not release the album as Karmin as "There was that much happening sonically." Noonan picked her stage name by combining "Qveen" a nickname given to her in college alongside "Herby" the mascot of the Nebraska Cornhuskers later realizing that "Herby" means "Warrior". The music video for her first single "Busta Rhymes" was released on June 1, 2017, followed by the release of EP 1a day later. The EP received mixed reviews from critics who questioned Herby's rebranding, citing it as an example of cultural appropriation and "modern blackface". Further criticisms included the musical and visual similarities to alternative artist FKA Twigs. Nevertheless, the EP experienced fair success, peaking at #37 on the US Billboard Independent Albums Chart and #13 on the US Heatseekers Albums Chart. Following the release of EP 1, Herby began work on her upcoming second extended play, EP 2. The first single off the EP, "Love Myself," was released on September 8, 2017. An accompanying music video was released the same day. On October 13, 2017, "Wifey" was released as the second single from EP 2, accompanied by a music video. EP 2 was made available for pre-order on November 17, 2017, and was released on December 1, 2017.
