Jeremih (album)
Encyclopedia
Jeremih is the eponymous debut studio album
by American recording artist Jeremih
, released on June 30, 2009, under Def Jam Recordings
. It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200
, selling 59,000 copies in its first week.
, Jeremih collaborated with record producer
Mick Schultz. Together, they wrote all the songs, while Schultz produced the entire album. The duo recorded approximately 20 songs for the album. In February 2009, Jeremih met with Island Def Jam chairman L. A. Reid
and executive vice president
of A&R
Karen Kwak. After performing for the two, Jeremih was signed to Def Jam Recordings
that same day.
. "Birthday Sex
", the lead single
from the album, topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100
and number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100
. "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)
", the second single, has peaked at number 23 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100
.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average
score of 70 based on four reviews. Andy Kellman of Allmusic described Jeremih's vocals as "charmingly sly", expressing a comparison to Slim
of 112
and Raphael Saadiq
. 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". 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'. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200
, selling 59,000 copies in its first week.
As of late 2010, Jeremih's debut album has sold over 500,000 copies in the US.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American recording artist Jeremih
Jeremih
Jeremiah Felton who performs under the mononym Jeremih , is an American recording artist and producer signed to Def Jam Recordings. Jeremih's debut single, "Birthday Sex" , peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100...
, released on June 30, 2009, under Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused primarily on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group...
. It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling 59,000 copies in its first week.
Background
While attending Columbia College ChicagoColumbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is one of the largest art colleges in the United States with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees within 120 undergraduate and graduate programs...
, Jeremih collaborated with record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Mick Schultz. Together, they wrote all the songs, while Schultz produced the entire album. The duo recorded approximately 20 songs for the album. In February 2009, Jeremih met with Island Def Jam chairman L. A. Reid
L. A. Reid
Antonio "L.A." Reid is a three-time Grammy Award-winning US record executive, songwriter, and record producer. Best known as the co-founder of LaFace Records, he is responsible for signing and helping bring Mariah Carey, Pink, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Kanye West, Avril Lavigne, Toni Braxton, TLC,...
and executive vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
of A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
Karen Kwak. After performing for the two, Jeremih was signed to Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings is an American record label, focused primarily on hip hop and urban music, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as a part of The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group...
that same day.
Release and promotion
Prior to its release, the album was previewed exclusively on social networking website MySpaceMySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
. "Birthday Sex
Birthday Sex
"Birthday Sex" is the debut single by American recording artist Jeremih. It is the lead single from his debut album, Jeremih. The song was written by Jeremih and Keith James and produced by Mick Schultz. "Birthday Sex" peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop...
", the lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
from the album, topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...
. "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)
Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)
"Imma Star " is a song by American R&B recording artist Jeremih. It serves as the second single from his self-titled debut album, Jeremih...
", the second single, has peaked at number 23 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
Critical reception
Upon its release, Jeremih received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 70 based on four reviews. Andy Kellman of Allmusic described Jeremih's vocals as "charmingly sly", expressing a comparison to Slim
Slim (112)
Marvin Eugene Scandrick III, better known by his stage name Slim, is an American R&B singer better known for being part of the band 112....
of 112
112 (band)
112 is an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia. Formerly artists on Diddy's Bad Boy Records, the group signed to the Def Soul roster in 2002. They had great success in the late 1990s and early 2000s with hits such as "Only You", "Anywhere" and "Peaches & Cream"...
and Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as TLC, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J...
. Giving the album a C-, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune is a daily newspaper located in Sarasota, Florida.It is owned by The New York Times Company, who purchased it in 1982, and part of its regional news group. Along with Comcast, the newspaper operates a local 24-hour...
felt that the use of Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
made Jeremih sound like a "clone" of Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, but showed "little of West's imagination on his debut album". 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'. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, selling 59,000 copies in its first week.
As of late 2010, Jeremih's debut album has sold over 500,000 copies in the US.
Track listing
- "That Body" – 3:54
- "Birthday SexBirthday Sex"Birthday Sex" is the debut single by American recording artist Jeremih. It is the lead single from his debut album, Jeremih. The song was written by Jeremih and Keith James and produced by Mick Schultz. "Birthday Sex" peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop...
" – 3:47 - "Break Up to Make Up" – 3:47
- "Runway" – 4:04
- "Raindrops" – 4:33
- "Starting All Over" – 4:38
- "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)"Imma Star " is a song by American R&B recording artist Jeremih. It serves as the second single from his self-titled debut album, Jeremih...
" – 4:21 - "Jumpin" – 3:19
- "Hatin' on Me" – 3:28
- "My Sunshine" – 4:18
- "My Ride" – 3:40
- "Buh Bye" – 4:09
- "Birthday Sex (Up-tempo)" (Bonus track) – 3:57
Personnel
- Tom Coyne – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Terese Joseph – A&RA&RArtists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
- Karen Kwak – A&R
- Eric Peterson – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - TaVon Sampson – art direction, cover design
- Mick Schultz – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, executive producer - Dion Stewart – stylist
- Jim "Big Jim" Wright – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Albums Chart | 100 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
95 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
6 |
| U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
1 |