Mayer Hawthorne
Mayer Hawthorne
Andrew Mayer Cohen, better known by the stage name Mayer Hawthorne, is a Grammy-nominated American singer, producer, songwriter, arranger, audio engineer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, California. Cohen also performs and records in the groups Tuxedo and Jaded Incorporated...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRapper
Date of Birth2 February 1979
CityAnn Arbor, MI
CountryUnited States of America
hip-hop hips made
I was a hip-hop head. When I really found my own lane in music, it was hip-hop. I wanted to make hip-hop music. And I did, I made a lot of hip-hop music.
stars rocks appreciate
I didn't appreciate Mick Jagger until I got older, and mainly because of the Mick Jagger swagger. He defined that for the world. He was bold and adventurous with it, too - just the ultimate rock star.
growing-up rocks parent
I was really fortunate growing up to have a broad musical education. My parents listened to all kinds of music, rock, soul, Motown, jazz, Frank Sinatra, everything.
brain r-kelly picks
I never have, but I would love to pick R. Kelly's brain.
rapper hip-hop soul
I make soul music for hip-hop heads. It's music I'd want to sample if I were a rapper.
long people want
I just want to make music as long as I can and reach as many people as I can.
dad character littles
My dad calls me 'Mac' a lot, from 'Mike Tyson's Punch Out' - Little Mac is the main character. I was obsessed. I can still beat Mike Tyson on 'Punch Out.'
trying intention music-is
My intentions with any of my music is to keep it futuristic and updated and be experimental and try new things.
kids rocks 80s-and-90s
I grew up in the '80s and '90s listening to Public Enemy and Mobb Deep and the Smashing Pumpkins. I don't even know what it was like in the '60s - I wasn't alive then - so the Mayer Hawthorne sound is taking what I can learn from the classics, and blending it with my hip-hop DJ and producer background and punk-rock bands that I played in as a kid.
dad player practice
My dad taught me to play bass. He's a bass player; he still plays in a band in Michigan to this day. He taught me to play bass when I was about 6. I used to just go to band practice with him, and whoever didn't show up for rehearsal that day, I would take their spot.
fashion unique space
Gary Numan had a huge influence on both my music and my style. He had his own unique fashion sense - that futuristic space style. It was out there.
soul detroit earth
Nowhere on earth has more soul than Detroit.
growing-up healthy west
I grew up in Ann Arbor, about 25 miles west of Detroit. And when you grow up in that area, you get a healthy dose of Motown automatically.
kids thinking parent
I don't want kids listening to my music thinking it's for their parents. I want them to feel it's theirs.