Michael Mike Posner, born in Southfield, MI, is a singer, songwriter, and producer who started his music career making pop-rap songs for the college crowd. He studied sociology and business at Duke University as he continued his music interests, making references to dorms and fraternities. He completed several mixtapes, including A Matter of Time, with DJ Benzi and Don Cannon. The record climbed the iTunesU chart in the summer of 2009. His second mixtape One Foot Out the Door was released later that year.

Posner signed with J Records and his debut album 31 Minutes to Takeoff after receiving his degree in 2010. The album was led by the international Top Ten single Cooler Than Me. He performed at the 2010 Warped Tour and the Bonnaroo. His first nationally televised performance was on Last Call with Carson Daly. He collaborated with Benny Benco to release his second single Please Dont Go in July 2010. The song contains elements of synthpop and techno.

In 2011, he released his third single Bow Chicka Wow Wow with a verse by Lil Wayne and production by the Smeezingtons. The song became number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 27 on US Pop Songs.