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. A scattering of collaborations appeared throughout that year, including "Here Comes the Sun" with
Antonique Smith and "Physical" with
Mally Mall and
E-40. Early 2018 brought a quartet of new solo tracks, which
Jeremih bundled into the
Chocolate Box EP. Also that year, he issued the full-length
MihTy with
Ty Dolla $ign, featuring the single "The Light," which charted at number 18 on Billboard's Hot R&B Songs survey. ~ Andy Kellman