Just like his labelmate August Alsina, Jeremih is none too pleased with Def Jam Recordings. Could it be the label dropping the ball lately, or are the artists’ expectations too high? Hmm!
After a LONG time of delays – we’re talking years – Jeremih finally dropped his third studio album, Late Nights, last Friday. Despite featuring hit singles like the J. Cole-assisted “Planes” and 2014’s “Don’t Tell ‘Em,” the project only moved a dismal 10,894 copies, and naturally, Jeremih is pissed. He blames it on his label, who he says really messed this one up.
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Taking to Twitter, he cleverly @’d a made-up page called “Deaf Jam Records,” writing, “Y’all don’t hear me.” (Someone has since snatched up the Twitter handle to troll.) He then went on to explain:
“It’s not the fact that mi album was actually priced 18.99. There’s actually no CD’s in the stores to even buy ,that’s the main point. each Best Buy was shipped 6-7 copies a peice. we checked in to the Corperate offices at Best Buy in Chicago and they told us LateNights wasn’t on this wks added shipment list ,nor next weeks ?? #MyAlbumJustDroppedLastWeek . It’s ok though I got some’n for everybody who tried me”
Just last week, his friend and frequent collaborator 50 Cent even blasted Def Jam in an Instagram post for the pricing as well. Could Jeremih be to blame too, though? Last fall, the Chicago singer gave an interview to Billboard, where he explained that he was the reason behind the album’s delay, as well as the video to the smash “Don’t Tell Em”, saying:
“I blame myself. I had a video scheduled. I just didn’t show up to it because of… I’m not going to point my finger at somebody else at this point. I stopped caring about being Jeremih over the last few months. A lot of people don’t know I have a 2-year-old son. His mom wasn’t allowing me to see him, and it was messing with me. I was internally unbalanced. But I just got out of that trial and I won.”
He did place some of the blame on Def Jam in that same interview, however:
“My label is hesitating and not being on my side. I see other artists and how they’re supported. It’s hard when I’m on a roster with Rihanna, Rick Ross and Kanye West.”
It seems there may have been some errors on both sides, but not capitalizing off of the success of “Don’t Tell ‘Em” while it was still hot definitely may have been one of the biggest. What do you think? Let us know your thoughts!
