Shawn Maurice Mims (born March 22, 1981), known mononymously as Mims (backronym for Music Is My Savior), stylized as MIMS, is an American rapper. Born and raised in New York City, he is best known for his 2006 commercial debut single "This Is Why I'm Hot", which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following the success of his hit single, Mims' debut album, Music Is My Savior, was released in March 2007.
Biography
Born into a Jamaican-American family in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City,[1] Mims grew up influenced by the rappers from his hometown. Despite the fact that he lost both parents by the time he was 13, Mims focused on music (his mother had given him his first set of DJ equipment shortly before she died) and school to keep himself out of trouble. Though he briefly attended technicals remedial college, Mims decided if he truly wanted to make it as a rapper he needed to focus on what was important to him. After graduating from Westbury High School, he began spending time in Toronto with Wyclef Jean as an acquaintance.
His debut singles, "L.O.V.E/I Made a Vow" were released in 2000, under the temporary pseudonym Mr. Mims. In 2001, he was featured on a Canadian compilation entitled Private Party Collectors Edition Vol. 2, by Baby Blue Soundcrew. His guest appearance on the single "Love 'Em All" alongside Choclair, steadily garnered the rapper some commercial attention in Canada. The music video was nominated for a 2001 MMVA award. Soon after his recognition in Canada, he would gain connections with Blackout Movement.[2] After, he decided to drop the "Mr." from his name and release 2 additional singles under the independent label Push Play Music: "Big-Man Lil-Man/P.I.M.P." (2002) and "I Did You Wrong" (2003). The latter contained a production credit by from the team aforementioned Blackout Movement, who would also produce the rapper's breakout single in 2006, "This Is Why I'm Hot." This would not be enough to finalize a legitimate record deal for the artist. In 2006, he began to record tracks for Latin hip hop label Urban Box Office. He decided that it would be in his best interests to structure his own label situation. He would also create American King Music alongside a few business partners.
While "This Is Why I'm Hot" gradually increased in airplay, the song did well enough on local radio stations, including New York's Power 105.1. It also eventually peaked at atop the US Billboard Hot 100. After a multi-million dollar bidding war, Mims finally signed with the labels EMI and Capitol Records; whom released his major studio debut, Music Is My Savior, in 2007.[3]
Mims released his second studio effort on April 7, 2009, titled Guilt. In October 2008, "Move (If You Wanna)" became the first official single from Mims' new album, peaking at #63 on the Hot 100 charts.[4] The second single was released on April 7, 2009, entitled "Love Rollercoaster" featuring LeToya Luckett.[5] In February 2010, Mims appeared alongside KRS-One and Redman on a song entitled "How to Be an Emcee 2010".
Mims' relationship with his record label deteriorated during the making of Guilt, and so after the album's release, he decided to move into the technology field instead of continuing to produce music. Mims collaborated with businessman Erik Mendelson to create an app called RecordGram, which launched in 2016.[1] In 2017, RecordGram won TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield in New York.[6]
Discography
Studio albums
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
