Mike Posner

Mike Posner
Posner at the 2012 Pepsi Summerbash at Toyota Park in Chicago, Illinois.
Background information
Birth name	Michael Robert Posner
Born	(1988-02-12) February 12, 1988 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Origin	Southfield, Michigan
Genres	Pop, hip hop, R&B
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Years active	2007–present
Labels	J, RCA
Associated acts	Big Sean, Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne, T. Mills
Website	mikeposner.com

Michael Robert "Mike" Posner (born February 12, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer.^[1] Posner released his debut album, 31 Minutes to Takeoff, on August 10, 2010. The album includes the US Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 single "Cooler Than Me", his second single, "Please Don't Go", as well as his third single, "Bow Chicka Wow Wow". He is also known for writing and producing "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber, "Beneath Your Beautiful" by Labrinth, as well as songs for Pharrell Williams, Big Sean, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa, Nelly, TI, and Snoop Dogg.

Early life

Posner was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was raised in Southfield, Michigan,^[2][3] the son of Roberta Henrion, a pharmacist,^[4] and Jon Posner, a criminal defense attorney.^[5] His father is Jewish and his mother is Catholic.^[6][7] Posner attended and graduated from Groves High School, where he ran varsity track and cross-country, and went on to attend Duke University. There Posner became a member of Sigma Nu^[8] fraternity and graduated in 2010 with a degree in sociology, with an overall GPA of 3.59.^[2][3][9]

Career

2009: Musical beginnings

Posner got his start producing his hometown friend Big Sean. Posner produced and was featured on Big Sean's first mixtape on a song entitled, "Smoke & Drive". Posner's second mixtape, A Matter of Time (the first mixtape being Reflections of a Lost Teen) started attracting industry attention in 2009.^[10] Working with Don Cannon and DJ Benzi, the mixtape was recorded and released from his dorm room at Duke University in March 2009 under the name, "Mike Posner & the Brain Trust," the Brain Trust referring to Posner's supporters.^[11] The release was unusual for being distributed for free through iTunes U, a channel designed for educational audio content. Although Posner was not the only artist to take advantage of this loophole, his release was the most organised and high profile, and attracted the largest response, immediately reaching the number one position on the iTunes U chart.^[10]

2010-2011: 31 Minutes to Takeoff

Mike Posner, July 2010.

Posner signed a record deal with J Records (RCA/Sony) in July 2009, after his Junior year at Duke.^[12] He chose to return to Duke after signing, and toured on the weekends while at the same time recording for his debut album.^[13][14][15] Posner's third mixtape One Foot Out the Door was released in October. The mixtape was accompanied by a web series of the same name which aired bi-weekly from September to December. Posner's debut album, 31 Minutes to Takeoff was released in August 2010. The first single, "Cooler Than Me" reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100. He performed at music festival Bonnaroo and on the 2010 Warped Tour. The second and third singles, "Please Don't Go" and "Bow Chicka Wow Wow" reached the top 20 and 30 on the Hot 100 respectively. The latter was released with an added verse by rapper Lil Wayne. Posner won a 2011 ASCAP Award from the publishing organization for "Cooler Than Me".

On October 7, 2011, RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding J Records along with Arista Records and Jive Records. With the shutdown, Posner (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release his future material on the RCA Records brand.^[16][17]

2011–present: Page 1 EP and Pages

After the release of his debut album, he began work on his second studio album under the title Sky High and released a single "Looks Like Sex" to digital outlets on December 2, 2011.^[18][19]

Posner later announced via Twitter that his next upcoming album would be titled Pages and would be released in late Summer or early June 2013.^[20] His single "The Way It Used To Be" premiered on digital outlets on June 11, 2013.^[21]

In September, it was announced that he had filmed a music video for his new single "Top of the World" which would appear on his upcoming Page 1 EP set for release in October.^[22] The song was originally used for a Reebok campaign, and made available as a free download under the title "Tapada World" as a special remix.^[23] The song was released on December 17, 2013, featuring Big Sean, and the music video was released on December 19, 2013.

Discography

• A Matter of Time (2009)
• 31 Minutes to Takeoff (2010)
• Pages (2014)^[24]

Writing discography

References

External links

• Official website
• Recording Institute of Detroit Home Page