Photo: Empire Records
Yung Bleu is falling back on his roots for the most personal project of his career.
The multi-platinum artist spent the past year cooking up fresh music that was inspired by his life growing up in Mobile, Al. Bleu named the album after his birthname Jeremy Biddle. He got the idea from his mother around his 30th birthday who had sent him a few photos from his childhood. One photo in particular shows Bleu as a toddler wearing blue jean shorts and a striped t-shirt with his older sister, brother and cousin. That innocent image went on to become the album cover for Jeremy.
“That was one of the images my mom just sent me one day out of nowhere,” Bleu tells iHeartRadio. “She actually inspired me to name [the album] that. Because when she sent the picture, I was just like ‘dang’ because I only got a few pictures from my childhood. That was one of the three.”
Bleu begins his life story by confronting all the negative press he received over the past few years. The intro track "Everybody Hates Jeremy" is a compilation of soundbites from local news outlets who covered all his recent negative headlines about him from the 2022 shooting he was involved with outside of a L.A. restaurant and his high-profile break-up with his ex-wife Tiemeria. Bleu's relationship with Tiemaria ended after another woman posted a TikTok video and claimed Bleu flew her out on a private jet. He addressed the situation on his track "Chrome Heart."
"I'm the blogs about some b***tches I ain't even f**k," he raps. "Before you open up ya mouth about a n***a, clean ya p*ssy up."
The album continues with other stand-out collaborations with Lil Wayne, who appears on the remix to the album's first single "Confirmation," John Legend, Jacquees, Leon Thomas, Fridayy and Sabri. The latter artist joins Bleu on his track "Reading The Room," which will also have fans buzzing about the song's meaning. He starts off swinging as soon as the song begins and seemingly takes aim at his former collaborator Boosie Badazz, who's spoken about him several times during interviews and on social media.
"I don't do this s**t for reels/I do this forreal/I'm busting down deals with n***as in suits, sheikhs in jewels, in foreign lands eating cheese and juice," Bleu raps. "It's way more money we coulda got in the past/these n***as ain't talk to me, they talking to Vlad/ Before you do another sit down, show 'em ya badge."
"I just let the listener determine what they feel like I was talking about," Bleu replies when asked about the song's meaning. "I just let them draw their own conclusions from what I was talking about."
The album has several other songs that are open to interpretation. Towards the end of the 16-track project is the more light-hearted "TARAJI." Bleu explains the song was made during a recording session at the London Hotel in the U.K. It was originally called "2 a.m. At The London" until his line "over there lookin' like Taraji" inspired him to change the name. The actress Taraji P. Henson hasn't heard the record just yet, but he hopes she will soon.
After serving up three studio albums and a handful of mixtapes over the past decade, Jeremy stands firm as Yung Bleu's most honest record yet. It's the beginning of a series that he knows his fans will appreciate for years to come. "I just feel like I haven't done [a personal album] yet and I feel like it was overdue for my fans," he says.
Listen to Jeremy below.
WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE