Mike Posner & The Legendary Mike Posner Band – I Was Born In Detroit On a Very Very Very Very Very Very Very Cold Day (2018)

Singer Mike Posner launched his career at Duke University, where he balanced his undergraduate studies in sociology and business with his musical habits. Like fellow undergrad Asher Roth, Posner began making melodic 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, graduated with a 3.59 GPA, 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 featured the 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. ~ Andrew Leahey.