EXCLUSIVE: Jeremih's Learning Experience

R&B newcomer Jeremih learned an important lesson on his first day of touring: sometimes, you need to roll with the punches.

“The keyboard should’ve been here,” he explained while backstage at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain. “It’s on its way; it was 15 pounds over capacity for the plane limit.”

But at least the singer himself made it. Jeremih flew to Scranton from El Paso, TX – touching down in NEPA around 4:30. He quickly drove to the venue, and snuck in a quick sound check before doors were opened to the public. I spoke with him just past 6 p.m., approximately 40 minutes later he hit the stage to croon for 15 minutes, ending with the up-tempo version of his Top 10 hit, “Birthday Sex.”

But if you’re headed to another stop on the America’s Most Wanted Music Festival, don’t assume that you’ll hear that particular cut.

“It all depends on what people are really feelin’,” said Jeremih. “It was up to me, I’d perform both of ‘em.”

After consulting with myself and Kidd Kraddick In The Morning producer Adam, Jeremih and his manager decided on the up-tempo remix, as that is the version heard on 97 BHT.

Jeremih isn’t your average R&B singer. Born Jeremih Felton in Chicago, the singer entered the University of Illinois at age 17. The early entry to college forced Felton to grow up quickly, and he would soon learn a lot about himself and his surroundings.

“I ended up getting a hold of some IDs,” revealed Jeremih, who blamed his downfall in part on living away from home in a co-ed dorm. “Long story short, I’m the youngest kid in there, but the oldest dude in there.”

The singer soon found himself with a revoked license. But Jeremih credits that experience with helping his career: during that two year period, he was forced to sit home and work on his craft. Jeremih transferred to Columbia College Chicago. He left a semester short of a degree to pursue his career, but plans on finishing at some point.

“Education is key,” said Jeremih. “It got me this far.”

THE WHITE TIE AFFAIR w/ Ralphie

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After playing 97 BHT's "High School Hookup 2009" at Riverside - The White Tie Affair met up with Ralphie at T.G.I. Friday's, and you could tell that they weren't speaking in front of a high school anymore.

Check out photos from "High School Hookup 2009" here.

It felt like a bunch of my old friends I grew up with comprised The White Tie Affair, a pop-rock band from Chicago. Sitting at a table at T.G.I. Friday’s in Wilkes-Barre, the fellas and I chatted candidly about porn videos, gossip, and (alleged) sexual escapades with or by friends and tour mates.

Then, I turned on the microphone and began the interview. If you think the band tamed the lingo – well, you thought incorrectly. In between dishing on the group’s next MTV cameo (in a couple weeks on The Hills) and Lady GaGa (they opened for GaGa on “The Fame Ball”), TWTA jumped at every spare moment to change the subject. The guys constantly mentioned premature ejaculation (or as guitarist Sean P. commonly referred to it: premature evacuation) and Daryl Strawberry.

“A lot of times what happens, there’s like premature evacuation going on and you don’t want to be embarrassed by the way you evacuate due to weather,” the guitarist all-but-blurted out. I didn’t care to inquire as to the origin of the inside joke, but the constant references to the former baseball player Strawberry peaked my curiosity.

“Was Daryl Strawberry there?” keyboardist Ryan McClain asked after a question about the group keeping up with the storylines of The Hills. “Candle (Sick and Tired)” first gained notoriety after the show featured the track and TWTA.

After a few more mentions of the former Yankees and Mets outfielder, lead singer Chris Wallace attempted to shed some light on the joke.

“We did this event in New York at CitiField, the Mets new stadium, and we heard Daryl Strawberry was gonna be there,” said Wallace.

“I’m a huge fan,” continued McClain. “Apparently, he had some problems back in the day.”

Those problems were alluded to early in the interview, when Wallace abruptly speculated that he heard Strawberry, “could no longer smell.”

Perhaps a lack of sleep could be attributed to the meandering of the interview. Wallace wrote the next day on the band’s MySpace blog that TWTA pulled an all-nighter – driving from Rochester, N.Y. to Wilkes-Barre. The next stop: Riverside High School, where Wallace and his crew performed for 97 BHT’s High School Hookup 2009, complete with a few of the group’s own tracks and covers of GaGa and Kanye West.

Anyways, the interview moved on, or at least I attempted to move it on – asking the guys about touring with the aforementioned GaGa.

“Let’s just say, she’s very polite and very generous with her ‘givings’,” Sean P noted. He couldn’t elaborate any further without inciting an FCC fine, however the guitarist did revert to a familiar topic in the conversation.

“If you were to run a city and there was a hurricane to come, you don’t want to be caught up premature evacuating even though it’s safer, and you get what you get done, I would never want to say that I premature evacuated a city when a tornado was coming.”

And on that note, I did not find anything premature about exiting the interview – after all, I knew the “tornado” of an editing task that awaited me before I could air the conversation.

RALPHIE REPORT: Anti-Chris Brown Song, Britney's "Circus"

If a group by the name of Jump Smokers didn’t do it, you know someone else would have released an anti-Chris Brown song. But, the Chicago-based duo is gaining world-notoriety for the track, “My Flow So Tight (Anti-Breezy)”.

“My flow so tight and the beat so sick, Chris Brown should get his ass kicked,” raps Jump Smokers front man C.W. Grizz on the hook.

The lead emcee called in to The Ralphie Radio Show last week to discuss the origin of the song and the response it’s received.

“It started out kinda as a joke,” revealed Grizz. “We wanted to make a song that legitimately would be poppin’ here in Chicago at the clubs.”

Jump Smokers first received airplay from a DJ in the Windy City, who spun the song on a live-to-air broadcast from a nightclub. Immediately, the radio station request lines lit up with listeners inquiring about the source of the track. Suddenly, night clubs and radio stations from coast to coast began playing the record, and news outlets from MTV to The New York Times covered the story of the song.

“Once I saw the pictures of Rihanna on TMZ.com… for me, I had it,” explained Grizz. “I kinda got fed up with a lot of celebrities not speaking out against him.”

Kanye West can be counted among the artists who didn’t speak against Brown – matter of fact – he even spoke in support of him. At a TV taping shortly after the pre-Grammy night incident, West asked a crowd to give the young R&B crooner a break. Other public figures – such as Oprah, Tyra Banks, and Perez Hilton – spoke out against the alleged abuse.

In an attempt not to gain any direct monetary success from the situation, Grizz noted that the group is donating proceeds of the song sales to charities that benefit women. However, this road proved rocky when a couple of non-for-profits were reluctant to accept the funds. Some were afraid that the song sent the wrong message to people – answering domestic violence with more abuse.

“I think (the charities) are taking it a little too seriously,” Grizz said in defense of his track. “We’re not threatening Chris Brown in this song. Hopefully the song makes you dance, laugh, and then think.”

At least two of the three reactions occurred over the weekend, when I spun the track inside Reflex at The Wilkes-Barre Hardware Bar Entertainment Complex. A couple club goers stopped and shot a perplexed look toward the DJ booth, while others “oohed” and most continued to dance.

And for those wondering, yes, Rihanna did hear the track. A DJ at a birthday party for Los Angeles Clipper Baron Davis spun the song with the Bajan-beauty present. No word on her reaction.

BRITNEY TOUR LIVES UP TO “CIRCUS” TITLE

Poor Britney Spears. If it isn’t Kevin Federline showing up backstage, it’s the Pussycat Dolls verbally clawing at each other on stage. If it isn’t a smoke-filled venue, it’s a fan jumping from the venue’s seating on stage.

Orlando, Florida resident Kyle King, 20, faces a single breach of peace charge for walking on stage during Spears’ encore performance of “Womanizer” at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. He could face jail time.
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DAILY DOWNLOAD: Jump Smokers - My Flow So Tight (Anti-Breezy)

05.01.09 : Jump Smokers - My Flow So Tight (Anti-Breezy)
Jump Smokers' front-man C.W. Grizz on The Ralphie Radio Show:
How the anti-Chris Brown song came about:

Trying to donate to charties, Rihanna's reaction:

Grizz insists during the conversation that in no way does the song advocate abuse, yet some charities are reluctant to accept proceeds of download sales from the group. The Jump Smokers lead emcee also confirms during the interview that Rihanna did in fact hear the song at a L.A. party - however he is unaware what her response to the song was.

He cites the TMZ photo of a beaten and bruised RiRi as the lead inspiration for the song. The Jump Smokers hail from Chicago.

EXCLUSIVE: FALL OUT BOY'S PETE WENTZ!

His dad still pays his cell phone bill, TMZ isn't as bad as his tweets make it out to be, plus much more.

Part 1: The Big announcement, Returning to Chicago

Part 2: "America's Suitehearts" Remix w/ Blink 182's Mark Hoppus, Being a Husband/Father, TMZ

ATTORNEY ROBIN BOND: Playboy Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Details

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Attorney Robin Bond breaks down the intricacies of a sexual harassment lawsuit brought forth by a divorce attorney/ex-columnist against Playboy.

Visit Robin's Site Here.
Read The Story Here.

(Above) Corri Fetman, suing Playboy.