Jeremih (album)

Jeremih is the debut studio album by American R&B recording artist Jeremih. It was released on June 30, 2009, by Def Jam Recordings. Promoting the release of the album, the album previewed exclusively on MySpace. The album debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200, selling 69,000 copies in its first week.

Jeremih
Studio album by Jeremih
Released	June 30, 2009 (2009-06-30)
Recorded	2008–2009
Genre	R&B
Length	51:54
Label	Def Jam
Producer	Mick Schultz (also exec.)
Jeremih chronology
Jeremih (2009) All About You (2010)
Singles from Jeremih
"Birthday Sex" Released: March 24, 2009 "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)" Released: June 9, 2009

Background

While attending Columbia College Chicago, Jeremih collaborated with record producer Mick Schultz.[1] Jeremih began writing all of these songs, while Schultz produced the entire album. The duo recorded approximately 20 songs for the album.[2] In February 2009, Jeremih met with the Def Jam's CEO Russell Simmons and an executive vice president of A&R Karen Kwak. After performing front of these two men, Jeremih signed a deal to Def Jam Recordings on that same day.[3][4]

Singles

The lead single from the album, called "Birthday Sex" was released on March 24, 2009. The single topped it on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[5] The single even peaked it at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100.[6][7]

The album's second and final single, called "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)" was released on June 9, 2009. The song peaked at number 23 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.[8]

Critical reception

Upon its release, Jeremih received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average score of 70 based on four reviews.[9] Andy Kellman of Allmusic described Jeremih's vocals as "charmingly sly", expressing a comparison to Slim of 112 and Raphael Saadiq.[10] Giving the album a C-, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune felt that the use of Auto-Tune made Jeremih sound like a "clone" of Kanye West, but showed "little of West's imagination on his debut album".[11] Meanwhile, following the album's August 2009 UK release, noted R&B writer Pete Lewis of 'Blues & Soul' referred to it as "A promisingly-diverse R&B set which combines jiggy, club-flavoured tracks like the sexy 'That Body' and catchy 'My Ride' with classy soulful ballads like the hauntingly mellow 'Starting All Over' and wistful 'My Sunshine'.[12]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200, selling 69,000 copies in its first week.[13] As of late 2010, Jeremih's debut album has sold over 420,000 copies in the United States.

Track listing

• All tracks written by Mick Schultz and Jeremy "Jeremih" Felton and produced by Mick Schultz; tracks 2 and 7 co-written by Keith James

No.	Title	Length
1.	"That Body"	3:54
2.	"Birthday Sex"	3:46
3.	"Break Up To Make Up"	3:47
4.	"Runway"	4:05
5.	"Raindrops"	4:33
6.	"Starting All Over"	4:39
7.	"Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)"	4:21
8.	"Jumpin"	3:20
9.	"Hatin' On Me"	3:28
10.	"My Sunshine"	4:19
11.	"My Ride"	3:41
12.	"Buh Bye"	4:09

iTunes Store bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Birthday Sex (Up-Tempo)"	3:57

Personnel

• Tom Coyne – mastering
• Terese Joseph – A&R
• Karen Kwak – A&R
• Eric Peterson – guitar, mixing
• TaVon Sampson – art direction, cover design
• Mick Schultz – producer, engineer, executive producer
• Dion Stewart – stylist
• Jim "Big Jim" Wright – photography

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[14]	100
UK Albums (OCC)[15]	95
US Billboard 200[16]	6
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[17]	1

References

1. Kellman, Andy. "Jeremih - Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
2. Carter, Lauren (September 25, 2009). "'Birthday' suitor Jeremih's star rises". Boston Herald. Herald Media. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2009.
3. Vaughn, Shamontiel L. (May 22, 2009). "Triple threat: Chicago native Jeremih, the singer, rapper, musician". Chicago Defender. Real Times. Archived from the original on May 22, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2009.
4. Concepcion, Mariel (April 15, 2009). "Jeremih". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
5. Trust, Gary (May 21, 2009). "Chart Beat: Kris Allen, SWV, Green Day, Al B. Sure!". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
6. Ben-Yehuda, Ayala (June 4, 2009). "Lady GaGa Takes Two Top 10 Spots On Billboard's Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
7. "Jeremih - Birthday Sex - Music Charts". αCharts. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
8. "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are) - Jeremih". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
9. "Reviews for Jeremih by Jeremih". Metacritic. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
10. "Jeremih - Overview". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
11. "New CD reviews". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The New York Times Company. July 2, 2009. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
12. Lewis, Pete (August 25, 2009). "'Perfect Presence - Pete Lewis Interviews Jeremih'". Blues & Soul. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
13. Grein, Paul (July 8, 2009). "Week Ending July 5, 2009: All Michael, All The Time". Yahoo! Music. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
14. "Lescharts.com – Jeremih – Jeremih". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
15. "Jeremih | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
16. "Jeremih Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
17. "Jeremih Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 31, 2009.