Mayer Hawthorne wrote his own Motown to dodge the sampling fees

Andrew Mayer Cohen grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on a street called Hawthorne Road. His stage name joins his real middle name, Mayer, to that street. His father plays in a band in Detroit, and the son became a member of the group Athletic Mic League under the name DJ Haircut. In 2005 he relocated to Los Angeles, where he was signed to Stones Throw Records by label head Peanut Butter Wolf.

The origin of his sound is practical. Working as a hip hop DJ, he began recording his own Motown-style tracks so that he would not have to pay fees for sampling other artists' work. He sang and played all the instruments himself, with no previous vocal training. Originally the tracks were made for sampling purposes and for pleasure, but when Peanut Butter Wolf heard them he insisted they be made into an album.

The debut single, “Just Ain't Gonna Work Out” with “When I Said Goodbye”, came out on a red heart-shaped 7-inch in November 2008, and the album A Strange Arrangement followed in September 2009. “When I Said Goodbye” was used in the Kanye West and Spike Jonze short film We Were Once a Fairytale. In 2011 he sang on Sebastian's “Love in Motion”, joined Booker T. Jones on Daryl Hall's Live From Daryl's House, and performed “The Walk”, the first single from How Do You Do, on Conan and the Late Show with David Letterman. That album earned a Grammy nomination for its packaging.

His 2013 single “Her Favorite Song”, from Where Does This Door Go, marked a departure from the throwback style of his first two albums. He names Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Barry White, Steely Dan, Smokey Robinson and Holland–Dozier–Holland among his influences, but he objects to the idea that his sound is purely retro, and also cites J Dilla and Santigold. He also records in the groups Tuxedo and Jaded Incorporated.