Mark Clennon
Clennon at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Mark Clennon (1990-08-13) August 13, 1990 (age 34) Kingston, Jamaica
Occupation(s)	Singer, musician, writer, producer, actor
Years active	2013–present

Mark Clennon (born August 13, 1990)^{[1][non-primary source needed][2]} is a Jamaican Canadian singer, musician, writer, producer, and actor.^[3][4][5] Born in Kingston, Clennon released several projects as a musician before attracting acclaim for his debut acting performance in the feature film I Don't Know Who You Are, which premiered in the Discovery program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.^[6] The music video for Clennon's song "Kingston" became the first music video shot in Jamaica to feature an on-screen romance between two men.^[7]

Clennon was born in Kingston, Jamaica, where he began taking piano lessons and writing songs in his youth.^[2] At the age of 15, he was relocated to Florida with his family, before moving to Toronto to pursue his music career when he turned 21.^[3]

Clennon began to release music on SoundCloud in the early 2010s, but upon signing a record deal with Montreal-based record label Moonshine, he deleted all of his music off the internet to "start from scratch".^[8] In an interview with The Gleaner, Clennon said that he began to take his music career seriously in 2013.^[8]

Clennon's first EP, When the Smoke Clears, which consists of four songs,^[9] was released on August 19, 2016.^[10]

His first official single was "Blood", which attracted acclaim from international music blogs.^[11][12] A music video was released on January 18, 2017.^[13] His second single, "Don't Die", was released later that year and was called "powerful" by Complex writer Katie Kelly,^[10] and a "sombre pop masterpiece" by Entertainment Weekly's Joey Nolfi.^[14] Another single, "Find You", was released with an accompanying music video on February 27, 2017, through Paper.^[15]

Around this time, Clennon left Moonshine and signed with another Canadian record label, Bonsound.^[16] He subsequently released his second EP, Passion, produced by Grammy Award-winning duo Rainer + Grimm, in 2019.^[17]

His third EP, Foreign, was released in 2021 and featured the singles "Part of Your World", "Not Perfect", and "Don't Start a Fire".^[18][19]

In 2022, during Pride Month, Clennon released a single titled "Kingston" with an accompanying music video that featured a romantic storyline between Clennon and male model Jean-Julien Hazoumi.^[20] The music video, filmed in Kingston, became the first music video shot in Jamaica to feature an on-screen romance between two men.^[4][7][21]

Outside of music, Clennon played Benjamin in Canadian director M. H. Murray's 2020 short film Ghost,^[5] which screened at the 30th Inside Out Film and Video Festival,^[22] the 5th Paris Independent Film Festival,^[23] the 34th Connecticut LGBTQ Film Festival,^[5] and the 47th Seattle International Film Festival.^[24] Clennon's song "Not Perfect" is featured in the film.^[25]

Clennon reprised the role of Benjamin in Murray's feature film I Don't Know Who You Are, which premiered in the Discovery program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.^[6] Clennon also served as a story editor and a producer on the film. This marked Clennon's debut acting performance in a feature-length film.^[26] Clennon was named as one of the festival's "Rising Stars",^[27] and his performance in the film received acclaim from critics.^[28][29][30] The Daily Beast dubbed his performance as one of the best of that year's TIFF.^[31] The film was picked up for theatrical distribution in 2024.^[32]

Clennon's music has been described by critics as both pop and R&B,^[11][12] with dancehall and soul influences.^[17][33]

Clennon is out as gay.^[34]

• LGBT rights in Jamaica

• Mark Clennon at IMDb

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