“The title of my song could’ve been ‘birthday’ anything because it’s always going to be a birthday,” said Jeremih.
Chicago South Side native, Jeremih Felton, dropped the well-known single, “Birthday Sex” out in the streets early this year, and it’s receiving lots of recognition, being compared to a mix of R. Kelly and The Dream. His single “My Ride” is also gaining mass popularity.
“[When] I heard the beat for ‘My Ride,’, [I felt] it was cool and I started to write instantly,” he explained.
Jeremih, 21, grew up musically inclined as his mother and grandmother set the stage with their musical talents. He said that instead of receiving toys and video games for Christmas, he got musical instruments. By the time he reached high school, he could play the saxophone, drums, piano and bass guitar—and he was self-taught.
After completing a performance that inspired him to pursue his passion of music, he changed career paths from studying engineering science to majoring in music business. He decided to enroll at Columbia College Chicago where he later hooked up with producer Mike Schultz who came up with the beat for “Birthday Sex.”
“We collaborated for the whole album,” he said. “We went into the studio and made music organically.”
Jeremih said when he heard the beat for “Birthday Sex,” he instantly started writing. He looked up the title “Birthday Sex,” and saw that no one had ever done a song like that before.
“I didn’t think ‘Birthday Sex’ would be as big as it is,” he said.
Jeremih, who started singing as recently as three years ago, is also the new kid on the on the block at Def Jam Records.
“It’s a dream come true to work with one of the biggest labels,” he gushed. Def Jam has signed artists such as Kanye West, Rihanna and The Dream. Jeremih said it feels good to be in the circle with these celebrities who have added their own flavor to their respective genre of music.
The deal with Def Jam came about because of the many calls to various radio stations requesting “Birthday Sex.”
“Around Christmas time, people listened to my song, and it started spreading south,” said Jeremih.
In the future, Jeremih would like to work with artists who bring the same level of diversity to the table as he does such as Kanye West, Alicia Keys and Raphael Saadiq. The up-and-comer believes that he is different from other artists because he produces more than one genre of music.
“I make mainstream urban-pop music,” he said. “Birthday sex’ is a whole different side of the album.”
Jeremih’s self-titled debut album will be hitting the streets June 30.
Want to know more about this hot new singer? Visit his MySpace page now for music, videos, and pics!
