"Birthday Sex" is the debut single by American singer

Jeremih Jeremy Phillip Felton (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Jeremih ( ), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. In 2009, he signed a record deal with Def Jam Recordings. Jeremih's commercial debut single, "Birthday Sex", ...

. It is the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from his debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

'' (2009). The song was written by Jeremih, Elliot Prince, and Keith James and produced by

Mick Schultz Michael Abram Schultz (born March 30, 1989) is an American music producer and songwriter. His most notable accomplishments to date include the production of Jeremih’s debut and second albums, including the multi-platinum hits " Birthday Sex", ...

. "Birthday Sex" peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topped the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. The single has been certified 3× Platinum.

Background

Jeremih wrote and recorded "Birthday Sex" in September 2008, initially calling it "Birthday Text" but later revising the name. Initially, a song entitled "My Ride" was scheduled to be released as the first single. Jeremih credited

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

Bam of Chicago's Power 92 for selecting "Birthday Sex" for radio play. The song is based on his own birthday experience. He thought that "someone would've written a song like that already—one that caters to females on their day". Meanwhile, during his first international press interview, Jeremih told noted UK R&B writer Pete Lewis of 'Blues & Soul': "I do think the lyrical concept really did help the song out! To where I feel it's gonna be a timeless record that'll still be played YEARS from now – simply because it's become a new birthday anthem!"

iSouth Remix

The official remix, "Birthday Sex (iSouth Remix)", features

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, '' Trey Day' ...

, Teairra Mari,

Stat Quo Stanley Bernard Benton (born July 24, 1978), better known as Stat Quo, is an American rapper and record producer.Shaheem Reid (January 12, 2004).Mixtape Mondays: Stat Quo" ''MTV''. Accessed February 5, 2008. Benton worked his way to college a ...

, and

Ludacris Christopher Brian Bridges (born September 11, 1977), known professionally as Ludacris (, homophonous with 'ludicrous' in American English), is an American rapper, actor, record producer and record executive. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludac ...

. The track was arranged by the record production duo iSouth Entertainment consisting of JB and Drunk D.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Birthday Sex" was filmed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and was directed by

Paul Hunter Paul Alan Hunter (14 October 1978 – 9 October 2006) was an English professional snooker player. He was a three-time Masters champion, winning the event in 2001, 2002, and 2004, recovering from a deficit in the final to win 10–9 on a ...

. In the video, Jeremih is shown with his love interest, Brazilian model Alessandra Cardoso with a Handycam to capture their intimate moments. He proceeds to feed her fruit and desserts while she is blindfolded. The music video managed to appear at number 3 on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's ''Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2009'' countdown.

Critical reception

"Birthday Sex" has received generally favorable reviews from critics. Jon Caramanica of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it a "fantastic single", while comparing it to songs by

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwi ...

, as it "clips his lines short like a rapper and writes bedroom songs that verge on parody". Amos Barshad of '' New York'' magazine dubbed the song a "summer jam". According to Sean Ross of Edison Media Research, the title of the song generated its success.

Chart performance

"Birthday Sex" debuted on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

chart at number 93 for the week of March 21, 2009. In May 2009, the song topped the ''Billboard'' Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop chart after ascending from number five to number one, the greatest rise for a new artist since Tweet's "

Oops (Oh My) "Oops (Oh My)" is a song by American singer Tweet from her debut studio album, '' Southern Hummingbird'' (2002). It features vocals from American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, who co-wrote the song with Tweet, while production was handle ...

" in 2002. "Birthday Sex" displaced

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film '' Ray'', for which he won the ...

's "

Blame It "Blame It" (also known as "Blame It (On the Alcohol)") is a song by American singer and actor Jamie Foxx, released as the second official single from his third studio album, ''Intuition'' (2008). It features singer T-Pain and was written by C ...

" from its 12-week streak atop the chart. "Birthday Sex" also displaced "Blame It" from its 14-week reign atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. For the week of May 14, 2009, "Birthday Sex" became the first song in several years outside of the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 to simultaneously have the greatest

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

gain and digital download gain. The song peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{authority control 2009 debut singles 2009 songs Jeremih songs Songs about birthdays Def Jam Recordings singles Songs written by Jeremih Songs written by Mick Schultz Music videos directed by Paul Hunter (director)