Artist: Mike Posner
Album: A Real Good Kid
Record Label(s): RCA
Recommended Tracks: Track 2- January 11th, 2017 and Track 7- Staring at the Fire
Mike Posner isn’t a name you hear around often, but you know him from his hit singles “Cooler Than Me”(2010), “Please don’t go” (2010), or “I took a Pill in Ibiza”(2016) which was remixed for the radio hit we all know so well. Some also may know Mike Posner unintentionally from his duo group of him and Blackbear collabing for one album called Mansionz. Mike Posner has released a good amount of music over the past decade, but remains fairly under the radar with exception of these few singles that have blown up. His one hit songs are something he is familiar with as he often references being a has been or having “a pop song that people forgot” despite his frequent release of new music and upcoming projects. On January 18th Posner released his 8th full length album called “A Real Good Kid” and it features 12 songs.
January 11th, 2017 is the most emotional song on this album hands down. The song is about the day his father died and how that has affected his everyday life. He goes into full detail of all the emotions he was feeling in this time of his life. He explains that this was the day he became a man as he saw his world changing. The song is slow paced and captured every ounce of Posner’s raw emotions as he fights back the tears explaining this ever so sensitive moment. The song ends with a clip of him and his dad talking saying how much they love each other and his dad teaching him how to be independent. They get on the topic of letting people go and that turns to Mike being reminded he will be letting his dad go making the song even heavier than it already was; hearing the voice behind the song. The last line of the song is the dad saying to him “You’re gonna put that into a song?” just reminding the listener of the reality of it all.
On a lighter note, the song “Staring at the Fire” is still a sad song in some regards, but in a much less direct way than January 11th, 2017. This song is about having your eye on the prize no matter what obstacles stand in the way and how toxic or bad for you they may be. The song revolves around the bridge of him saying some variation of not being able to look away from the fire because it is addicting. The song connects to both his experiences in the media and then also advocacy in America today. This song can resonate for many as it can be about whatever you want any distraction or addiction that sets you off the original path.
Mike Posner is a talented musician and songwriter that stays very lowkey. He is constantly putting out new non top 40 pop music with emotion and feeling throughout the entire album and that can be seen very clearly on this newest album of his. The songs are almost all on the slower side, none of which sound like they will be big radio hits, but are good for their heartfelt lyrics and relatability. If you like this album be sure to check out his older work and Mansionz. Some artists you could also check out are people like Sammy Adams, Nico and Vinz or Skizzy mars.
