The summer’s hottest hip-hop concert ticket is here – as two of Def Jam’s biggest stars, Atlanta’s multi-platinum Young Jeezy and 21 year-old Chicago sensation Jeremih, join with New Orleans’ own Lil Wayne for the “Young Money” tour, opening in Scranton, PA on July 27th. The month-long 21-city North American package tour, also featuring Drake, Soulja Boy and other guests tba, will wrap up in Dallas on August 23rd.

Jeremih, whose self-titled album debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and #1 on the R&B chart, exploded into music history this spring with “Birthday Sex,” the most played song on MySpace for 6 weeks in a row. With over 95 million MySpace plays to date, “Birthday Sex” rose to #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, #4 on the Hot 100, and #5 on the Hot Digital Songs chart (the single is approaching platinum), and boasts more than 100 million total audience at radio.

Young Jeezy released his most recent album, The Recession, in September 2008 – his second consecutive #1 Sound­scan debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart (after 2006’s The Inspiration). The Recession, which also went straight to #1 at iTunes, spun off a string of hit singles starting with “Put On” featuring Kanye West, #1 Rap and #1 R&B, and a #12 pop hit as well. The Grammy-nominated song was the second-highest charting Hot 100 hit of Jeezy’s career, and was also nominated for the People’s Champ Award at the BET Hip Hop Awards in October 2008. Jeezy’s next album is set to drop in Fall 2009.

‘YOUNG MONEY TOUR’

STARRING YOUNG JEEZY, LIL WAYNE, JEREMIH, AND GUESTS

Date City Venue

July 27 Scranton, PA Toyota Pavilion

29 Saratoga Springs, NY Performing Arts Center

30 Pittsburgh, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion

31 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center

Aug. 1 Wantagh, NY Jones Beach Amphitheatre

2 Virginia Beach, VA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

4 Toronto, Ont. Molson Amphitheatre

5 Montreal, Que. Bell Centre

6 Cuyahoga Falls, OH Blossom Music Center

7 Washington, DC Nissan Pavilion

8 Raleigh, NC Music Pavilion

9 Atlanta, GA Aaron’s Amphitheatre

12 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion

13 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheatre

14 Anaheim, CA Theatre at the Honda Center

15 Concord, CA Sleep Train Pavilion

17 Vancouver, B.C. GM Place

18 Edmonton, Alb. Rexall Place

20 Denver, CO Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre

22 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

23 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center

I wouldn’t’ say I was forced into music, but while other kids were getting video games and toys for Christmas, I was given musical instruments. Mom worked hard to make sure I had all the tools available to develop a talent she saw in me even then. Within no time I had all the essentials of a band.

Basically self taught, by the time he reached high school, Jeremih could play the sax, the drums, the piano, the bass guitar and the quads. But he was yet to add his astonishing vocal ability to the mix. All that would change by happenstance once he got to college.

ìI was set to perform in a talent show where I had to be Stevie Wonder. Being that his music has had such a strong influence on me, I knew I had to kill it, sort of as a tribute to Stevie. Jeremih poured his heart and soul into that performance and the response of the crowd was so strong, it awakened a desire in him that he had not previously been aware of. From that defining moment, Jeremih knew he had found his home on stage.

ìI guess you could say I am more of a rapper turned singer. I have always been into writing poetry with witty rhyme schemes. I just decided to put a melody to it and I had my sound. Once I started playing the keys and singing, it was like a dynamic duo.

So strong was this new found performer in Jeremih, that he decided to ditch the safe career path in engineering science he had been carving out in favor of something more true to his passion. He returned to Chicago to enroll in a music business degree program at Columbia College, where a chance meeting with a young producer would set his dream in motion and his sound in stone.

In their short time working together, these two amazing talents have completed Jeremih’s yet untitled debut album, which is an explosive blend of urban/pop beats set to the soulful, crooning lyrics of Jeremih. This combination has all the earmarks of a smash, with something to please every listener, and is destined to race to the top of the charts.

He doesn’t have just one sound, insists Mick Schultz, Jeremih’s producer and collaborator. He can rap whatever you want and sing whatever you want. You give him a track and he’ll run with it. After listening to the album, it is impossible to deny that Jeremih’s musical arsenal is complete.

Jeremih admits that working with Mick Schultz has brought out a side of his talent that he did not know he possessed. ìThis album was born from what the beat’s told me. I mean we came up with the song Runway just sitting in Mickís place, listening to beats while Americaís Next Top Model just happened to be on in the background.î Jeremih insists that the two of them working together on this album, creating beats and lyrics in tandem, was like shuffling a deck of cards where ìeverything just fit perfectly together.î

While looking toward the future, Jeremih hopes to release his debut album and insists that once his sound gets out there, he will be crowned ìRookie of the Yearî. As this energetic young man puts it, ìThe way I feel is that in life you have two choices; be entertained or be the one entertaining.î And very soon the world will know which category Jeremih falls into.