The Singles Jukebox

We somehow missed this one. So did the charts…

[Video][Website]
[7.58]

Michelle Myers: Not everyone can pull of aping The-Dream with as much style and grace as Jeremih. His entire vocal style is based on the Terius Nash eh-eh-eh trope that has rippled through R&B for several years now. Live performances confirm what the best tracks on Jeremih’s excellent Late Nites mixtape suggest; he is an emotive and creative singer making the best of a somewhat thin, limited voice. “773 Love” is undoubtedly the strongest, catchiest song on the tape. Producer Mike WiLL Made-It slowly builds a reserved, barely-there synth line into a technicolor explosion. After a couple of years of Weeknd “drug that hoe” ickiness, Jeremih’s plea of “seduce me” seems downright gentlemanly. Minus one point because his number goes straight to voice mail :(
[9]

Alfred Soto: While he’s been thinkin’ lately he wants to get more than physical, he can’t stop reminding her that his briefs are off — a rhetorical triumph by a herky jerk riding a herky-jerk rhythm. The massive Atari 5200 synths complement Jeremih’s unexpected enjambments: check out the segue into the “put it down” section. It’s the essence of mixtape experimenting, though, and while I’ll be startled and thrilled to hear it on the radio, “Birthday Sex” fans might want a more, shall we say, linear track.
[7]

Anthony Easton: Smooth with some prickly lyrics, a smart and delicate set of negotiations concerning what exactly happens in bed (or outside of it in an attempt to get people into bed), with one of the more erotic slow jams produced this year. Extra point for the ooohs. 
[9]

Al Shipley: Jeremih, who made or sang the hooks on several of the biggest urban radio hits of the last two years, teams up with the hottest producer of 2012, on a wildly popular mixtape that intensified his following. And nobody at dude’s label thought it might be a good idea to send this to radio and get him on track for a new album? Somebody needs to lose their job over that shit, I need to hear this on my car stereo, like, yesterday.
[7]

Brad Shoup: “Loverman clichés, soapy drama, and bottle-service grooves,” plus actual bottles — heavens, we got it all for you! Lust sharpens almost none of us, so I’m happy to stuff my head with synth congestion and P-funk filigrees. The chords on the chorus foretell triumph of the non-obnoxious sort.
[8]

Patrick St. Michel: Another fantastic piece of production courtesy of Mike WiLL Made It, one that stands out because his sonic work isn’t overshadowed by another element of the song. Jeremih sounds fine here, but he also lacks anything that makes him stand out over the music (Future had his cyborg yelp, Juicy J had his skeezy raps). He instead synthesizes with Mike WiLL’s creation, from the minimalist verses to the woozing electronic flares of the chorus. Jeremih is just spitting game, but the production takes you on a mini-adventure.
[8]

Ian Mathers: There are parts of “773 Love” where Jeremih’s, uh, technologically assisted voice splinters and curls, making me think of Lloyd’s “Southside” (and I fucking love “Southside”). But Jeremih actually sounds more like the Weeknd than Lloyd (in timbre, if not subject matter), and in any case this one sounds best when it’s at its least straightforwardly welcoming. Like “Southside,” if this one grows on me it’ll probably be inescapable soon.
[7]

Zach Lyon: I don’t want my general feelings on this As A Project get in the way of how I parse the song itself, but I would be a bit disappointed if “773 Love” ended up being more than a mixtape experiment. I tend to see Jeremih as a foil to Trey Songz, both of them sharing the same radio space and the same mental space in my brain. The key difference is that Jeremih has a higher ceiling and Trey has a higher floor; from the hooky “Birthday Sex” to the massively listenable “Down on Me”, I’ve been invested in his potential, and I never thought that “potential” to mean “mediocre third-string The-Dream singles”. Not that there’s any real dichotomy between the two, but in a year where Trey took a big step back, Jeremih gave us nothing new, including this. But anyway: as a song, on its own, I’d switch stations if it actually got any play. And probably search for some Terius.
[5]

Will Adams: The last thirty seconds are insane. The synths – the size of Chicago and its suburbs combined – fall into a filter, then melt away to leave Jeremih’s cashmere vocals for the last chorus. The rest of “773 Love” is great (though I’m partial to my 312 area code), but, in the end, getting to those final moments is all that matters to me.
[7]

Katherine St Asaph: Jeremih and Mike WiLL take turns burbling and shining, and that’s all this needs. So, since someone has to say it, I’ll take the hit: Jeremih is a hard sell to whichever genre tourists (made up of however much straw) are only listening to Miguel or whatever, because they’d hear the title “Birthday Sex” and parse it not as a song but a punchline. That the single crossed over only makes it a handier one. (I’m not endorsing this stance, but you can’t ignore it.) This merits and rewards just as much attention, and I hope that ship hasn’t sailed.
[7]

Edward Okulicz: The-Dream could make something great like this again if he didn’t try so damn hard. Even the chorus hook sounds dashed off at the last minute, especially next to the massive come on of “WELCOME TO MY BED!!!!”. But anything would sound good in this song’s clothing.
[7]

Alex Ostroff: First things first: Mike WiLL Made It. And then Jeremih enters with those achingly languorous opening stimulation/occupation declarations, until he starts pondering the possibilities of doing to you and doing to me and his warnings and wishes start to tumble out of his mouth, nearly tripping over each other. He stutters while he p-p-p-pops bottles, manages to make “looseleaf” sound sexy, and then Mike WiLL throws that filter on “seduce me” and I melt into a puddle. And all this before the chorus, which starts spare, with “Promise” drums, and delicate fingersnaps and then bursts into flourishes of synths. In the second verse, he manages that same spiral of words and rhymes swiftly piling atop one another, in a dizzying mix of anticipation, nerves, lust and confidence. In a year where The-Dream re-released a mediocre free album, and Love Affair is nowhere in sight, Jeremih somehow managed to put out a knock-off Terius track that rivals “Luv Songs” and “Purple Kisses”, and his label still managed to release it as a single in September with no fanfare, totally drop the ball. It’s not too late. Can we get a video? Or a radio push? Something?
[10]