Mayer Hawthorne

Although Mayer Hawthorne entered adulthood in the first years of the '00s, he might as well have stepped out of the Hitsville Studio in Detroit, circa 1971. Signed to the Stones Throw label, mostly known for its underground hip-hop, Hawthorne wrapped his silken voice around retro-Motown beats, complete with echoing harmonies, radiant horn flourishes, and insistently funky basslines. Between his soulfulness and his incongruous, horn-rimmed persona, Hawthorne became an internet celebrity before his first record in 2009.