Jeremih Wanted 'I Like' To Feel Familiar To Fans

New single has strains of his megahit 'Birthday Sex,' but R&B upstart tells MTV News All About You LP shows greater range. By Jayson Rodriguez





Jeremih

Photo: MTV News




Jeremih is hoping familiarity breeds success.
The "Birthday Sex" singer's latest single, "I Like," features the Chicago crooner wailing his trademark "aye, ayes." The number — with an assist from Ludacris — is from his new release out Tuesday (September 28), All About You. And the R&B upstart admits that its sound is in part why he and Island Def Jam's chairman agreed it should be the first offering.

" 'I Like' was a record that was actually chosen by L.A. Reid himself," Jeremih told MTV News. "It was a record that I hoped when people heard it for the first time, with me being gone for at least a small period of time over the past year, I wanted them to know exactly who it was when they heard it. I think it was definitely that record. When they heard it, it would be, 'OK, that's Jeremih. It sounds like Jeremih; it sounds like something he would do.' So that was the hope for that record and so far, so good."
The song, like the rest of All About You, was produced by Mick Schultz, also responsible for Jeremih's self-titled debut, which spawned the ubiquitous hit "Birthday Sex." For his follow-up, Jeremih said he aimed to showcase more range, with songs like "Broken Down," "Hold On" and his likely second single "Down on Me," featuring 50 Cent. This time, however, he hopes fans become attached to his entire project, a challenge he set for himself when he began recording All About You.
"Before I became the man that everybody was introduced to, I really was a songwriter," he explained. "My approach to that first album was, 'Yo, I'm gonna write all these songs trying to get a placement [on another artist's project] to try to get one day in a position to be an artist. But everything happened so quickly. The approach to this album was different because I had a point to prove, I had such a huge record and I want to follow it up with an album that could be as successful as that song."
What do you think of Jeremih's new single? Do you like "I Like"? Tell us in the comments!



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