I think that Detroiters are some of the most resilient people in the world.

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.'

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.

A big part of the Motown formula was, they took music and turned it into this sort of automotive assembly line. They were cranking out 10 songs a day in that studio, or more.

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.

I make soul music for hip-hop heads. It's music I'd want to sample if I were a rapper.

Marvin Gaye was the ultimate ladies' man and a big part of that was the way he dressed. If you're having trouble getting ladies, step your suit game up and see the difference. Walk into a bar in a tailored suit and I guarantee every girl will check you out.