The first time I saw the “Bring MIKE POSNER to Dillo Day!!!! (please)” Facebook event, I assumed Posner was just an ironically bad artist who probably had a stupid song on YouTube. I mean, Günther was the last “artist” the Northwestern Facebook community lobbied for a Dillo Day appearance, so why shouldn’t I set my expectations low?
Turns out Posner isn’t an internet meme, but (gasp!) an actual, non-joke musician. Originally hailing from Southfield, Mich. and currently a junior at Duke University, Posner (joined by his band the Brain Trust) toes the line between hip-hop and coffeehouse pop with his songs (dude raps over a beat inspired by The Fray’s biggest single on “I’m Still Not Over You”, complete with the opening words to the song). His career is relatively young — he just released his first mixtape A Matter Of Time (available for free on iTunes ) – but he’s grabbing some attention already; the aforementioned mixtape was released by DJ Benzi, who has helped put out mixtapes with Kanye West to Lil’ Jon. Posner definitely isn’t a punchline, that’s for sure.
One of the better songs on his MySpace page is the Carly Simon-referencing “Cooler Than Me.”
Here’s another song from Posner’s debut mixtape, the illegal substance-heavy “Drug Dealer Girl.”
Posner also covers a lot of tunes. Here he is tackling Beyonce’s “Halo,” his voice sounding like a raspier Justin Timberlake.
He also takes a stab at Kanye’s “Heartless.” The guitar-based chorus is just your average “terrible acoustic rap cover,” but Posner handles the verses well, especially without AutoTune.
If Mike Posner does end up landing a Dillo Day spot, his performance might look like this, though I doubt security would let any brightly colored cups through.