Jeremih

Jeremy Felton (born July 17, 1987),[2] better known by his stage name Jeremih(pronounced "Je-Ruh-My")[3] (/ˈdʒɛrɪmaɪ/), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer.[4] In 2009, he signed a record deal with Def Jam Recordings. Jeremih's commercial debut single, "Birthday Sex", peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. His self-titled debut albumreached number six on the US Billboard 200 chart. Jeremih's success continued with the release of his second album, All About You, led by the single "Down on Me", which also reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100. In 2014, his single "Don't Tell 'Em" with YG became his third top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100. After multiple delays, Jeremih released his third studio album, Late Nights in 2015. Jeremih's collab album with Ty Dolla Sign titled MihTy was released on August 24, 2018.

Early life
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Jeremih began playing drums at the age of three and is able to play the saxophone, several percussion instruments and piano/keyboards.[5] He attended Morgan Park High School, where he was part of the marching band as well as a Latin jazz band, where he learned to play percussion instruments like congas and timbales.[6] Felton was a good student and earned academic honors at Morgan Park High School. His strong academic performance enabled him to graduate from high school a year early.[7][8] He enrolled at the University of Illinois as well as Parkland College in Urbana-Champaign.[9][10][11] After spending a semester at the university studying engineering science, he wanted to change his education to something related to music. He transferred to Columbia College Chicago in 2007 to pursue a degree in music business.[12][13] After performing a tribute to Ray Charles at one of the campus's talent shows, he received positive feedback and realized his vocal ability, saying that the "music was just taking over".[13]

2009–11: Jeremih and All About You
While attending Columbia College Chicago, Jeremih collaborated with record producer Mick Schultz.[14] Together, they recorded a song, titled "My Ride".[15]Jeremih received guidance from his cousin, Day26 group member, Willie Taylor.[16] In February 2009, Jeremih met with Def Jam's CEO Russell Simmons, and executive vice president of A&R Karen Kwak. After performing for the two, Jeremih signed a recording contract with Def Jam that same day.[15] In 2009, Jeremih released his debut single, "Birthday Sex". The song later peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[17] In June 2009, Jeremih released his eponymous self-titled debut studio album, Jeremih.[18] The album debuted at number 6 on the US Billboard 200, selling 59,000 copies in its first week.[19] In promotion of the album, Jeremih took part in America's Most Wanted Tour, alongside Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy and Soulja Boy Tell 'Em.[20] The second single, "Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)", peaked at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100.[21]

In August 2009, Jeremih was selected by Ron Huberman and Mayor Richard M. Daley of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to campaign children to return to school.[22][23] Community activists protested and demanded CPS to undo their decision, claiming that Jeremih's music was "not appropriate for students" and "promotes teen sex".[23][24] Huberman argued that "school officials would be naive to pretend students don't listen to Felton's music already".[25] Daley also argued that recording artists have the freedom of speech, noting that Jeremih was "a young man, [with a] back-to-school message, a young man who has had great success recording, producer, going to school, went to public school".[23] In September 2009, Jeremih performed on ABC Daytime's soap opera One Life to Live, alongside recording artist Lionel Richie. The two performed "Just Go", a song from Richie's album with the same title.[26]

On June 1, 2010, Jeremih released the first single for his second studio album All About You, titled "I Like" featuring Ludacris. "Down on Me" featuring rapper 50 Cent, was confirmed to be the second single from the album. "Down on Me" charted on the number-one position for eight weeks total on Rhythmic Billboardchart.[27] All About You was released on September 28, 2010. The following year, Jeremih and Rick Ross were featured on the song, which was performed by Wale, titled "That Way" from the compilation album Self Made Vol. 1.

2012–15: Late Nights
In December 2011, Jeremih confirmed he had been working on his third studio album which was originally titled Thumpy Johnson. He announced plans from a summer 2012 release under Def Jam. However, the album was not released. Instead, Jeremih released his first mixtape titled Late Nights with Jeremih on August 7, 2012.[28]

"All the Time" is a song which originally appeared on his mixtape Late Nights with Jeremih but was re-released with an additional verse by rapper Lil Wayne as a single. The song was released on April 16, 2013 as a digital download.[29] On July 17, 2014, Jeremih formally released his collaborative EP "No More" with Shlohmo through his Twitter account.[30]

The first single off Jeremih's third studio album (retitled Late Nights: The Album), "Don't Tell 'Em" featuring YG, was released on June 6, 2014.[31] The second single, "Planez" featuring J. Cole was released on January 22, 2015.[32] The first promotional single "Tonight Belongs to U!" featuring Flo Rida was released on April 21, 2015.[33] The third single, "Oui" was released on October 30, 2015.[34]The second promotional single, "Royalty" featuring Big Sean and Future, was released October 29, 2015.[35] The third promotional single "Peace Sign" featuring Fabolous and Red Cafe was released November 18, 2015.[36] The fourth single, "Pass Dat" was released December 1, 2015.[37] On December 4, Jeremih finally released the album to critical acclaim.[38] To promote the album, Jeremih embarked on his Late Nights Uncut Tour.

2016–present: Later That Night & MihTy
On February 7, 2016, Jeremih revealed his fourth studio album will be called, Later That Night in an interview with Billboard. Aside from his own work, Jeremih has recently been working alongside Kanye West and Nicki Minaj, both whom he revealed he has been writing for. He was unsure about whether anything he has done with West will end up on his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo.[39]

He and PartyNextDoor toured in 2016.[40]

On June 8, 2018, Jeremih released "The Light" as the lead single from the upcoming collaboration album MihTy with Ty Dolla Sign.[41]

Musical style
Jeremih cited Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and R. Kelly as his biggest influences.[42] He described their music as "timeless", calling them "true musician-artists".[42] With the release of his debut album, Andy Kellman of Allmusic compared Jeremih's vocals to Slim of 112 and Raphael Saadiq, noting that his "charmingly sly voice...is hard to not like".[14] In contrast, Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe felt that Jeremih's voice was "thin", showing "little range".[43] Jody Rosen expressed that Jeremih "has a way with tunes and hooks".[44] He received comparisons to The-Dream, R. Kelly and Stevie Wonder.[45]

Discography
Main article: Jeremih discography
 * Studio albums
 * Jeremih (2009)
 * All About You (2010)
 * Late Nights (2015)
 * MihTy (2018)

Controversy
In December 2016, in Houston, Texas, Jeremih allegedly used a stunt double to perform at the PartyNextDoor Summer's Over Tour.[46][47]

Awards and nominations
The Music of Black Origin Awards (MOBO Awards) is an awards ceremony established in 1995 by Kanya King. The American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973. An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature. The Chicago Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony for music artist professionals to get recognized for their talents and hard work. Ephraim Martin, CMA President, is the founder. The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011. By Billboard Music Award. The iheartRadio award honors the biggest Artists and Songs of the year.
 * MOBO Awards
 * American Music Awards
 * Grammy Awards
 * NAACP Awards
 * Chicago Music Awards
 * Billboard Music Awards
 * iHeartRadio Music Awards