Heartbreak Party promotional photo.
HEARTBREAK PARTY cover art.
Jake Schmugge (born March 1, 1996) is a Grammy nominated American Singer-Songwriter. He is signed to a joint deal with Atlantic Records/Island Records/NBK Records, with a publishing deal through Universal Music Group. Schmugge came to prominence in late 2012, after signing a deal with RCA Records and landing major writing credits throughout 2013 (including Demi Lovato, JoJo, & Cher Lloyd.) He later recorded what was supposed to be his debut album "Another Day In The Life". The album was leaked months before schedule due to disagreements between him and RCA. He secured a deal with Atlantic Records in early 2014.
Early life
Schmugge was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 1, 1996. He has stated that he began singing at age two but wasn't comfortable with singing around people until he was older. He disliked music that he heard on the radio so decided to write songs that he liked, and that he wanted to hear.
Career
2012-2013: RCA Records & Another Day In The Life
Jake Schmugge's recording career began when he signed to RCA Records in 2013 and released the buzz single "IDGAF". The song went on to attain slight attention due to its blunt and explicit lyrics. Soon after the release of "IDGAF", he confirmed via his twitter page that his debut album would be titled "Another Day In The Life" and was scheduled for a July release. After months of no album details or new music, Schmugge confessed his frustration with the label and leaked the album in its entirety onto his soundcloud page. Days later, he announced that he had obtained the full rights to the album and that he had parted ways with RCA. The album has since been scrapped and pulled from his soundcloud page. He no longer considers it his debut album, later saying "I wrote that album at a time in my life where I was extremely angry at the world. I'm glad that the fans could appreciate it, but I feel like the music I'm making now is much more who I am."
2014: Heartbreak Party and Can I Get A Moment
In August, Schmugge announced that he had inked a deal with Atlantic Records and was working on a new mixtape as a way to introduce fans to a new sound. "Heartbreak Party" was released on September 9th as a free download for US fans and on iTunes for the UK. The mixtape spawned the UK Top 40 "Beautiful". The single was sent to radio in the United Kingdom on September 16th, 2014. The song went on to peak at #23 making it his highest charting single in the UK at that time- while also being his first single to be certified Gold - exceeding sales of 400,000 since its release. On November 11th, 2014, Schmugge's second single "Can I Get A Moment" was sent to radio in the United Kingdom (UK chart Peak - #5) - becoming his first Top 10 single. On November 25th, 2014 Can I Get A Moment: The EP was released for digital download in the UK. (UK chart peak - #12)
2015-present: CHAPTER ONE, THE LOST FILES MIXTAPE, + Upcoming second studio album
Fill Me Up - the lead single from his debut album CHAPTER ONE was released on 26 January 2015 & went on to peak at #1 on the UK Digital Chart and UK Singles Chart. As of July 2015, it has been certified Platinum with sales exceeding 750,000 copies. The song was later followed up by the second single I'll Be There. It was serviced to radio on August 14, 2015 ( UK Singles Chart - #4, UK R&B - #1) - making it his first entry on R&B formatting. Since the release of his debut album Chapter One (3 April 2015), Schmugge has continued his writing & production - landing credits on Demi Lovato's album Confident. On October 15th, 2015; it was announced Via statement from Atlantic and Island that Schmugge had begun the formation of his very own label. NBK Records will be a joint venture between Schmugge, Island Records, and Atlantic Records. All of his future music will be released under this new venture, while also beginning the search for new talent to add to the roster. In an interview with BBC RADIO 1, Schmugge revealed that he has already begun writing and recording songs for his upcoming second studio album, which he hopes to release sometime in 2017. He said, "This time around with the album I would like to...just take risks in terms of the sound and identifying who I am as an artist. It's more of a rhythmic pop so it's not going to be extreme pop. It's going to be a little bit more soul."
Schmugge will release his second mixtape, The Lost Files, on 14 October 2016. The mixtape includes twelve cover versions of songs by Cold Chisel, Crowded House, The Clash, Roxette, Ed Sheeran and Etta James, among others. Wake Me Up was used as the first promotional track from the mixtape, garnering over 10 million streams in the first tracking week.
On October 20, 2016; Schmugge unexpectedly released the buzz single "Something Bout You" on the iTunes Store worldwide without any prior announcement or promotion. The song debuted at #3 on the U.K. Singles Chart Chart & within the top 30 in every country it was released - excluding the United States. The song debuted at #78 on the Billboard Hot 100 - marking his first official impact on the U.S. charting format.
"Fallin" was released digitally on 16 June 2017. Capital FM described the song as "a classic soulful slice of R&B infused with his tender and emotional vocals." The single was a commercial success, debuting at #4 on the U.K. Singles Chart and #1 in 5 countries. (Australia, Finland, Latvia, Mexico, Scotland.) The song peaked within the top 10 and 20 in over 20+ other countries.
"Then I Met You" was released 22 September 2017. The single was premiered during a radio interview with Capital FM the day prior. Then I Met You is Schmugge's most successful single since Fill Me Up, peaking at #1 in 9 countries (Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Slovakia, South Africa.) & top 20 in over 25. (UK Singles chart #2)
Chapter One
On 21 January 2015 Jake officially announced via social media that his debut album would be named Chapter One and would be available for pre-order in the U.K. the following day with a release date of 7 April 2015. The album peaked at #3 in the UK and #1 in Mexico, Taiwan, Portugal, and Norway. The album was a commercial success, peaking within the top 10 in 20+ countries. The album has been certified triple platinum in the UK and has sold over 900,000 copies as of June 2016.
Discography
| Releases | ||
|---|---|---|
| ↙Studio albums | Chapter One (2015)
TBA (2018) | |
| ↙Internet albums | The Lost Files (2016)
Miss You Most at Christmas Time (2017) | |
| ↙Extended plays | Heartbreak Party (2014)
CIGAM: The EP (2014) | |
| ↙Singles | Beautiful (2014)
CIGAM (2014) Fill Me Up (2015) I'll Be There (2015) Something 'Bout You (2016) Fallin' (2017) Then I Met You (2017) | |