Falling in Love with Hip-Hop
DP: Your mom is a pharmacist and your dad is an attorney, when did you first get into music and realize it was something you were interested in?
Mike Posner: When I was 5, my big sister used to let me listen to her Nirvana tapes. When my Mom caught her letting me listen she would get in big trouble. But I thank her for that. I fell in love with hip-hop music at the age of 8. I remember my friends and I had a sleepover one night and we tried freestyling for the first time. I just never really stopped after that. That’s when I began writing songs. I started making beats at 13 and I started singing at 20. I started studying piano at 24. Maybe next year I’ll try harmonica.
DP: What made you fall in love with hip-hop at such a young age?
Mike Posner: A few of my older cousins were rappers. My cousin Tulsi Anderson is an underground MC in Seattle and my big brother Eli Sweet is an MC from Atlanta and I really looked up to both of them. I remember showing Tulsi the little raps in my notebook when I was eight and he just really encouraged me to keep writing even though I’m sure they were terrible…so I did.
DP: How did you learn to record, produce etc?
Mike Posner: There were a few recording classes that I took in Detroit but I think Warren Buffet says, “One day on land is worth 1,000 years of talking about it.” The same is true of music. I learned to make music by making music.
DP: Is there anyone that you’ve worked with in your career that has left a lasting impression on you?
Mike Posner: Norman Henry Mamey has probably had the greatest influence on me. He taught me how to play piano and was teaching me harmony before he passed away in January. I spent hours at his home and behind his piano every week. This album is dedicated to him. Before he passed, he asked me if I would play something at his funeral and doing so was one of the great honors of my life.
DP: You got a job at rap radio station in downtown Detroit as an intern and you met Big Sean for the first time. Tell me about that and your relationship with him back then?
Mike Posner: Originally, I started off producing tracks for him. As time passed, we became closer and he made me a part of his crew, Finally Famous, in 2006. He used to come to my parents house and we would freestyle with our friends in the basement and record songs. I care a lot about him. He’s a special young man.
DP: You said in a video that Sean changed your life because he showed you that your dreams weren’t as far away as you thought they were. Was that the point in your life when you decide to seriously pursue music?
Mike Posner: I was dedicated to music at age 8. I knew I’d be making it forever. I just didn’t know I would be able to make a living off of it until Sean did. When Sean signed his record deal with Kanye West and Island Def Jam, I sort of sat in my dorm at Duke and thought, “I could probably do this too.” The other kids in my dorm were starting businesses so I thought what the hell?
