Mike Posner @ The Blue Note

Most college boys spend their free time playing beer pong and hooking up with hot chicks. But Southfield, Michigan-bred producer/singer/songwriter Mike Posner, 21, doesn’t let the hedonistic side of life at Duke University (where he’s currently a senior, majoring in both sociology and business) derail him from his musical dreams. At 13, he started making beats and networking with other musicians via Internet message boards. In January 2009, Posner holed up in his dorm room and wrote, produced and recorded every track on his debut mixtape, A Matter of Time. The mixtape hit the Web in March, sparking a months-long label bidding war, where J Records emerged the victor. Even with all his musical accomplishments, Mike hasn’t abandoned his studies just yet, as evidenced by his hustle during finals week this semester. “Thursday and Friday I performed in Detroit. Saturday I performed at the University of Dayton. I had three finals on Tuesday, a show at Duke Wednesday, did a song with Wale and 9th Wonder Thursday, and Friday I had a meeting with Jay-Z.” While Mike works toward graduation, he is recording a new mixtape slated for a fall release, his debut album, as well as touring every weekend.

Biography by: Celia San Miguel (XXL)Mike Posner