Mayer Hawthorne never planned to be a soul singer.

Long before the industry ever co-signed him as cool, he was just Andrew Mayer Cohen: A Jewish kid from Ann Arbor with a killer record collection and a crate digger’s ear. 

Born in the burbs to a family that was far from music centered, Mayer Hawthorne hardly came up the traditional Motown way – yet he still understand Detroit soul in a way most imitators never could.

First, he was a DJ. 

Then he was a hip-hop head.

Then he was a local guy making beats under the name “Haircut” for the Athletic Mic League. 

A man of many talents, he had trouble finding his footing in any one area…that is until he started putting scratch vocals over his loops (placeholders) only to have everyone tell him to stop looking for a singer…that unbeknownst to him, he already was one.

In 2009, Mayer releases his debut album, “Strange Arrangement”, which felt like someone had cracked open a time capsule and unearthed the love child of the Delfonics and Steely Dan.

He was the kind of performer that could easily embody two different polarities at once:

Dapper yet thrifty.

Romantic yet sly.  

Modern yet retro.

And the critics?

They couldn’t decide – was it a parody?

Nostalgia? 

Cosplay?

Nope. 

It was simply his real love for the city that made him:

The Dilla-inspired drums. 

The weird streak. 

The heavy Motown influence. 

He soaked it all up, filtering it back out with the kind of tenderness that sounded like Curtis Mayfield’s smooth vocal seduction.

His other projects included “Tuxedo” with Jake One, which pushed him into electro-boogie funk with a West Coast edge, and his solo work “Man About Town” and “Rare Changes,” which leaned more into soul rooted in late-night vulnerability.

The common thread running through it all?

Romance.

Swagger. 

Sadness. 

In short: Mayer Hawthorne makes songs for people who still make playlists. For those who think love letters sound better on vinyl.

He’s one of those rare men who make modern music feel like a memory – new but familiar, smooth but subversive, clean but complicated – a shape-shifter in a city known for reinvention.

What the future has in store for him, we can only guess.

Victoria Jackson (Editor In Chief)

Victoria Jackson is a lifelong student and sharp-eyed documentarian of all things Detroit, from its rich musical roots and cultural icons to its shifting neighborhoods, storied architecture, and underground legends. With her finger firmly on the pulse of both the city’s vibrant past and its rapidly unfolding future, she brings a deeply personal, historically grounded lens to every piece she writes.

Published on: July 25, 2025