Mike Posner

Vocalist, songwriter, and producer Mike Posner merges melodic, soul-inflected pop-rap and club-friendly beats, crafting songs that are often as emotionally candid as they are hooky. His distinctive light rasp first emerged on both the national and world stage with his debut single, "Cooler Than Me," from 2010's 31 Minutes to Takeoff. More acclaim followed with "I Took a Pill in Ibiza," off 2016's At Night, Alone., including a Grammy-nomination for Song of the Year, while a dance remix by SeeB reached the Top Ten in over two-dozen countries. A collaboration with hip-hop artist Blackbear as the duo Mansionz also proved fruitful, spawning two albums and moody anthems like "STFU" and "Rich White Girls." Posner kicked off the next decade with several deeply personal albums, including 2020's Operation: Wake Up in which he portrayed a loosely fictionalized version of himself going through a mental breakdown. Following singles like 2022's "Home" and 2023's "Howling at the Moon" with Salem Ilese, he delivered 2025's The Beginning, another personal album that found him ruminating on his life and career, including a transformative near-death experience climbing Mount Everest in 2021.

Born in Detroit and raised in suburban Southfield, Posner launched his career at Duke University, where he balanced his undergraduate studies in sociology and business with his musical pursuits. Like fellow undergrad Asher Roth, Posner began making pop-rap songs for the college crowd, filling his music with references to fraternity culture, dorm life, and young adulthood. He also compiled several mixtapes, one of which -- A Matter of Time -- topped the digital charts during the summer of 2009. After signing with J Records, he finished his degree and released his full-length debut, 31 Minutes to Takeoff, in the summer of 2010. The album featured the worldwide hit "Cooler Than Me," and reached the Top Ten in the U.S.

J Records dissolved soon after, and Posner moved to its parent label, RCA, but only after some legal wrangling, which was referenced in the title to his 2011 mixtape, The Layover. His career with RCA officially began late that same year with the December release of "Looks Like Sex." Two more singles, "The Way It Used to Be" and "Top of the World" (featuring Big Sean), followed in 2013 as preludes to his second official album, Pages. The EP The Truth followed in 2015 and offered the international hit "I Took a Pill in Ibiza." The single also landed on the 2016 LP At Night, Alone., which featured a guest appearance from the returning Big Sean. In 2017, Posner teamed up with Florida-based rap/R&B artist Blackbear for the hip-hop- and spoken word-influenced project Mansionz. The pair issued their self-titled debut that March and it rose into the Top 100 on the Billboard 200. The following year, Posner released an album of poetry titled I was born in detroit on a very very very very very very very cold day.

He returned later in 2018 with "Song About You," the lead single from his third full-length, A Real Good Kid. Issued at the start of 2019, the album also included the singles "Stuck in the Middle" and "Move On." To promote the record, Posner embarked on a cross-country trek that found the musician traversing the United States on foot. Starting in New Jersey, he crossed through Pennsylvania and into the Midwest, performing impromptu concerts for fans and inviting them to join him on his journey. Along the way, he released collaborative singles "Look What I've Become" with Ty Dolla $ign and "Prince Akeem" with Wiz Khalifa. Almost four months into his walk, Posner was bitten by a rattlesnake in Colorado, which sidelined his plans as he recovered. He eventually completed his trek in August 2019 and marked the experience that October with the release of the mixtape Keep Going.

In December 2020, he returned with the full-length Operation: Wake Up. A concept album, it revealed Posner portraying a fictionalized version of himself going through a mental breakdown over a 48-hour period. Included on the album was the single "Weaponry" with Jessie J. Over the next year, Posner turned out a series of collaborations including "Momma Always Told Me" with Stanaj and Yung Bae and "Jealousy" featuring Blackbear. There was also "Home" and "Howling at the Moon" with Salem Ilese. It was also during this period that Posner traveled, embarking on a charity climb of Mount Everest in Nepal in June 2021 to raise funds for the Detroit Justice Center. During his ascent, he encountered an icefall and suffered extreme altitude sickness. This near-death experience would inform his fifth studio album, The Beginning. Released in February 2025, the deeply personal production found Posner reflecting on his life and career, embracing a folk- and psych-pop-influenced style, as evidenced by singles like "I'm Not Dead Yet," "Beautiful Day," and "Is It Just Me." ~ Andrew Leahey & Marcy Donelson