Rapper Cole Stevenson, better known by his stage name Merkules, hails from Surrey, British Columbia. He is well-known for his "hangover-rap" musical genre. At the age of 15, Stevenson started rapping as Merk Mikz. At a concert, he met Snak the Ripper, and Stevenson later joined his tour as a hype guy. The two started working together on music in 2011. Stevenson was randomly attacked when he was 16 years old as he walked home at night. After being pummeled and stabbed, he sustained lasting facial scars. There were no detentions. The incident served as the idea for his 2016 album Scars. 2017 saw the release of Stevenson's album Trust Your Gut. In 2018, he released the Cole album as a follow-up. Prior to canceling, Stevenson was scheduled to tour with Gucci Mane in May 2019. In October of same year, he released his album Special Occasion.