IN-Q is a professional spoken word artist, two-time Emmy-nominated lyricist, multi-platinum songwriter, world-renowned keynote speaker, and the bestselling author of the poetry book Inquire Within.

Named by former Vice President Al Gore as “one of the greatest poets of our time”, his prolific career began in Los Angeles over 25 years ago, where he was one of the original members of the historic open-mic Da Poetry Lounge. He has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam and won the National Poetry Slam Championships alongside his team in 2004.

Many of his poetry videos have gone viral with over 70 - 80 million combined views, and his stand-up poetry special, IN-Q - Live at the Ace Theatre, streams exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Other notable recognitions include being named to Oprah's SuperSoul 100 list of the world's most influential thought leaders, being featured on ESPN’s The World Series of Poker, and appearing on two seasons of Verses & Flow presented by Lexus. His words and voice have been on display in multiple television campaigns including Look Closer for A&E, Fearless Leader for Northwell Health, and Citizen Clock for Disney.

As a songwriter, IN-Q co-wrote the hit single "Love You Like a Love Song" by Selena Gomez, which went multi-platinum and earned him a BMI Award. He has written with acclaimed artists including Aloe Blacc, Miley Cyrus, Mike Posner, ZHU, and Foster the People, and has collaborated with RockMafia on 50+ songs for Disney Television. Over his career, he has earned 6 platinum and 3 Gold Plaques and his songs have accumulated over two billion views on YouTube alone. Most recently, he co-wrote four songs for the Descendants: The Rise of Red franchise, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Soundtrack charts and earned him his second Emmy nomination for the title track "RED."

In 2025, IN-Q joined both the The Recording Academy’s Spoken Word Committee and the Los Angeles Chapter Songwriters & Composer Wing Committee, reflecting his continued dedication to help elevate poetry's visibility and reach.
Leading organizations including Nike, Instagram, Spotify, Google, Zappos, Lululemon, Live Nation, Shazam, The Grammy Foundation, and many more have brought IN-Q in to motivate their teams through his keynote performances and transformational storytelling workshops.

For public performances, IN-Q has graced some of the world's most prestigious stages: he was the first spoken word artist to perform with Cirque du Soleil at both the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay Theater’s in Las Vegas, he’s headlined at The Kennedy Center, sold out the Mark Taper Forum in DTLA and done separate keynotes at TEDMED and TEDX Hollywood. In 2025 alone, he was the Poet Laureate for Summit Series flagship event, opened the ADWEEK Vanguard CMO conference, and closed out Aspen Ideas Health. He also collaborated with Tony Robbins by speaking at his Platinum partners program in Croatia and had multiple poems featured during Unleash the Power Within, bringing his work to hundreds of thousands of people around the globe.

Each year, IN-Q leads his own sold-out international retreats and brings attendees on immersive experiences that create rare space for deep reflection and creative exploration. Previous retreats include Bali, Morocco, Mexico, Hawaii, and Ireland.

Additionally, IN-Q sits on The Wellbeing Collective Advisory Board of Hyatt Hotels, helping them shape wellbeing initiatives across the hospitality industry. But his commitment to values-driven work extends beyond the boardroom: He regularly performs at Prisons bringing art to inmates and he recently wrote a custom poem for the We Are Enough campaign led by Blake Mycoskie the founder of TOMS, channeling his voice toward messages of self-worth and collective healing. In 2024, his spoken word album + journal The Never Ending Now was featured on the NASDAQ Times Square Billboard for World Mental Health Day, and last year, he had the great honor of being inducted into the Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America Hall of Fame. He also had his poem Goldfish featured in the NYT Bestselling book Your Brain on Art by Ivy Ross & Susan Magsamen.

Ultimately, IN-Q writes to entertain, inspire, and challenge his audiences to look deeper into the human experience and to ask harder questions about themselves, their environment, and the world at large.

Highlights:

- Inducted into the Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America Hall of Fame
- Joined the Hyatt Wellbeing Collective Advisory Board
- Opened ADWEEK 2025
- Closed out Aspen Ideas Health 2025
- Joined the Recording Academy Spoken Word Committee and Songwriting Committee
- Collaborated with Tony Robbins; featured piece performed at Unleash the Power Within (UPW)
- Wrote a custom poem for the We Are Enough campaign
- The Never Ending Now spoken word album/journal featured on the NASDAQ Times Square Billboard for World Mental Health Day
- Featured poem in the NYT Bestselling book Your Brain on Art by Ivy Ross & Susan Magsamen