At 13, he started making beats and networking with other musicians via Internet message boards. After interning at Detroit’s 102.7 FM, he met and began working with Kanye West’s protege Big Sean, in 2007. 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. Hosted by Don Cannon and DJ Benzi, the mixtape hit the Web in March, sparking a months-long label bidding war, where J Records emerged the victor. Creatively, MP’s style is a hodgepodge of influences. “When you hear my music, you’re not just hearing me; you’re hearing bits of Eric Clapton, Nas, Led Zeppelin, Dilla, Lauryn Hill and Jeezy” he says. This genre-bending style is apparent on cuts like the synthy “Drug Dealer Girl”, where he declares his devotion to his ever-reliable female weed connect.

Even with all his musical accomplishments, Mike hasn’t abandoned his studies just yet, as evidences by his hustle during finals week this semester. “Thursday I performed in Detroit. Friday I performed in Detroit. Saturday I performed at the University of Dayton. I came back and studied Sunday and Monday. I had three finals on Tuesday, and I had a show on Wednesday….Thursday I had like, a meeting with a professor, and Friday I had a meeting with Jay-Z”.