Jeremih

Do high school band geeks ever make it in the music industry? Jeremih is about to.

Birthday Sex, a smoldering slow jam by R&B singer Jeremih (pronounced Jer-em-eye), became a surprise hit earlier this year, getting national radio play, over 60 million plays on MySpace and, most recently, a spot on iTunes' Top 100 singles. "I had no clue that it would ever get this big," admits Jeremih, who attributes the song's success to the simple fact that "it's someone's birthday every day." (It probably helped that he didn't go with the original title: "Birthday Text.)

The 21-year old has been compared to The-Dream as well as fellow Windy City native R. Kelly for both his vocal style and raunchy storylines. With lyrics like "1-2-3, I think I've got you pinned/don't tap out/fight until the end," Jeremih shows he's got Kells' knack for wrapping up borderline cheesy lines with a solid hook: "l don't need candles and cake/just need your body to make/birthday sex." A self-taught musician who has played drums, keyboards and saxophone since his days at Morgan Park High School, Jeremih is grateful for his stroke of good luck. But the self-described rapper-turned singer says there's more to him than one catchy song: "I'd hate for people to think… you're gonna hear twelve 'Birthday Sexes' on my album."

Jeremih's self-titled debut is scheduled for release at the end of this month.

See: myspace.com/jeremih