Southern Plug Magazine: Leaders of the New School 2017 Volume 2 Issue 1 A | Page 110

Born and bred on Chicago's South Side, pop-R&B singer and songwriter Jeremih
taught himself how to play several instruments and didn't consider himself a vocalist
until a warmly received talent show performance. At Chicago's Columbia College, he
struck up a partnership with fledgling producer Mick Schultz, and the two closely
collaborated on the material that became Jeremih's debut album. In March 2009,
slow jam "Birthday Sex," the first single, debuted on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop
chart, eventually topped it, and even crossed into the Top Ten of the Hot 100. Thanks
to that hit, Jeremih, released that June with production handled entirely by Schultz,
debuted at number six on the Billboard 200. A year later, Jeremih issued his follow-
up, All About You. Like the debut, it was produced by Schultz and spawned a Top Ten
pop hit, though it was a club track -- "Down on Me" -- featuring 50 Cent. Five years
passed prior to the release of Jeremih's third album. The protracted gap between full-
lengths entailed numerous delays, a period during which the singer distanced himself
from his earlier hits and blamed himself and his label for the slippage. The artist
nonetheless hardly pulled a disappearing act, with the high-profile mixtape Late
Nights with Jeremih, a Top Ten pop hit in the form of "Don't Tell 'Em" (produced by
Schultz and DJ Mustard, and featuring YG), as well as appearances on numerous
tracks headlined by other artists, most notably DJ Khaled's "Hold You Down." Late
Nights: The Album finally arrived in December 2015 with guest spots from J. Cole,
Future, Big Sean, and Ty Dolla $ign, among others. Just a few months later, Jeremih
wrapped up his trilogy with the Late Nights: Europe mixtape, a slick collection whose
14 tracks were purportedly recorded in only two weeks. He and fellow Chicagoan
Chance the Rapper closed out 2016 with a collaborative mixtape called Merry
Christmas Lil' Mama. February 2017 saw the release of "I Think of You," the lead
single from his forthcoming fifth album.