Five years passed prior to the release of Jeremih's third album. The protracted gap between full-lengths entailed numerous delays, a period during which the singer distanced himself from his earlier hits and blamed himself and his label for the slippage. The artist nonetheless hardly pulled a disappearing act, with the high-profile mixtape Late Nights with Jeremih, a Top Ten pop hit in the form of "Don't Tell 'Em" (produced by Schultz and DJ Mustard, and featuring YG), as well as appearances on numerous tracks headlined by other artists, most notably DJ Khaled's "Hold You Down." Late Nights: The Album finally arrived in December 2015 with guest spots from J. Cole, Future, Big Sean, and Ty Dolla $ign, among others. Just a few months later, Jeremih wrapped up his trilogy with the Late Nights: Europe mixtape, a slick collection whose 14 tracks were purportedly recorded in only two weeks. He and fellow Chicagoan Chance the Rapper closed out 2016 with a collaborative mixtape called Merry Christmas Lil' Mama.
February 2017 saw the release of "I Think of You," the lead single from his forthcoming fifth album. A scattering of collaborations appeared throughout that year, including "Here Comes the Sun" with Antonique Smith and "Physical" with Mally Mall and E-40. Early 2018 brought a quartet of new solo tracks, which Jeremih bundled into the Chocolate Box EP. Also that year, he issued the full-length MihTy with Ty Dolla $ign, featuring the single "The Light," which charted at number 18 on Billboard's Hot R&B Songs survey. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi