Artist of the Week: Jeremih

While the world of music is still high in competition, Jeremih found it quite easy to break through the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his single "Birthday Sex". Within weeks, the first single of his debut album became the first song in several years outside the top 10 to simultaneously score the week's greatest airplay gain and later climbed up to the fourth position.

Jeremih, for one thing, is young and has every quality as a performer. Apart from being academically intelligent, the 21-year-old masters a lot of music instruments that enable him to craft his own music. "I wouldn't say I was forced into music, but while other kids were getting video games and toys for Christmas, I was given musical instruments," he testifies. "Mom worked hard to make sure I had all the tools available to develop a talent she saw in me even then. Within no time I had all the essentials of a band."

Asked to perform before L. A. Reid and executive vice president of A&R Karen Kwak, Jeremih soon found himself among Def Jam's seedlings. In a month time, "Birthday Sex" was released and radio picked it up for heavy spins. Jeremih's history was in the making.

His self-titled album is due for release on Tuesday, June 30 but prior to that a listening party for the tracks is available at his MySpace. "I feel like I have other songs that will attend to other crowds, or just will top other charts that I'm more confident in," says Jeremih.