Jeremih (album)

Jeremih
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 30, 2009 (2009-06-30)
Recorded2008–2009
GenreR&B
Length51:54
LabelDef Jam
ProducerMick Schultz (also exec.)
Jeremih chronology
Jeremih
(2009)
All About You
(2010)
Singles from Jeremih
  1. "Birthday Sex"
    Released: March 24, 2009
  2. "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)"
    Released: June 9, 2009
  3. "Break Up To Make Up"
    Released: November 17, 2009

Jeremih is the debut studio album by American R&B recording artist Jeremih. It was released on June 30, 2009, through Def Jam Recordings. The production on the album was handled by Mick Schultz who also co-wrote the album with Jeremih. To promote the release of the album, the album was posted online for an exclusive preview on MySpace.

Jeremih was supported by three singles: "Birthday Sex", "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)" and "Break Up To Make Up". The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and was a commercial success. It debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200, selling 59,000 copies in its first week.[1]

Background

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While attending Columbia College Chicago, Jeremih collaborated with record producer Mick Schultz.[2] Jeremih began writing all of these songs, while Schultz produced the entire album. The duo recorded approximately 20 songs for the album.[3] In February 2009, Jeremih met with the Def Jam Recordings CEO Russell Simmons and its executive vice president of A&R, Karen Kwak. After a vocal performance, Jeremih signed a recording contract with the label that same day.[4][5]

Singles

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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.[6] The single even peaked it at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 58 on the Canadian Hot 100.[7][8]

The album's second 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.[9]

The album's third and final single, "Break Up To Make Up", impacted US rhythmic radio stations on November 17, 2009.[10] The song peaked at 87 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic70/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Sarasota Herald-TribuneC−[13]

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.[14]

Andy Kellman of AllMusic described Jeremih's vocals as "charmingly sly", expressing a comparison to Slim of 112 and Raphael Saadiq.[15] 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".[13] 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'.[16]

Commercial performance

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Jeremih debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 59,000 copies in the first week.[1] This became Jeremih's first US top-ten debut.[1] In its second week, the album dropped to number 15 on the chart, selling an additional 29,000 copies.[17] On October 1, 2021, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over one million units in the United States.[18]

Track listing

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

Personnel

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Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[18] Platinum 1,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Gil Kaufman (July 8, 2009). "Now 31 Tops Everyone But Michael Jackson On Billboard". MTV. Archived from the original on September 6, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  2. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Jeremih - Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 16, 2009.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Concepcion, Mariel (April 15, 2009). "Jeremih". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  6. ^ Trust, Gary (May 21, 2009). "Chart Beat: Kris Allen, SWV, Green Day, Al B. Sure!". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "Jeremih - Birthday Sex - Music Charts". αCharts. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  9. ^ "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are) - Jeremih". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  10. ^ "FMQB: Radio Industry News, Music Industry Updates, Arbitron Ratings, Music News and more!". fmqb.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Jeremih by Jeremih Metacrtic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  12. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Jeremih - Jeremih | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "New CD reviews". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The New York Times Company. July 2, 2009. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved July 3, 2009.
  14. ^ "Reviews for Jeremih by Jeremih". Metacritic. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  15. ^ "Jeremih - Overview". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  16. ^ Lewis, Pete (August 25, 2009). "Perfect Presence - Pete Lewis Interviews Jeremih". Blues & Soul. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  17. ^ Gil Kaufman (July 15, 2009). "Maxwell Returns to Top Billboard". MTV. Archived from the original on October 22, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  18. ^ a b "American album certifications – Jeremih – Jeremih". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  19. ^ "Lescharts.com – Jeremih – Jeremih". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
  20. ^ "Jeremih | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  21. ^ "Jeremih Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  22. ^ "Jeremih Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 31, 2009.
  23. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  24. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2009". Billboard. Retrieved October 14, 2020.