Shawn Tapiwa Mims (born March 22, 1981[1]), popularly known as Mims, is an American rapper. He was born of Jamaican descent in Washington Heights, Manhattan. [2]
Career
Mims graduated High School and enrolled at Nassau Community College.[3] He left the institution after a mere two months of classes to pursue a career in rap music.[4] He began spending time in Harlem with Cam'ron as an acquaintance. In 2001, he was discovered by Quincy S/Duq Entertainment and soon after 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 enabled him to be recognized in Canada. The music video gained a nomination for a MMVA award. This song was never officially released in the United States. Mims also released his own single entitled "L.O.V.E." which was commercially unsuccessful.[5]
Soon after his recognition in Canada, he would gain connections with Blackout Movement & The Untouchable DJ Drastic.[6] He would release his first U.S. Single, "I Did You Wrong" gaining modest momemtum across the United States. 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 create American King Music alongside business partners Corey Llewellyn & Erik Mendelson.
Mims released "This Is Why I'm Hot" which gained respectable momemtum across the country as a direct result of his immediate camp and company. This created much attention for Mims as labels that had previously turned him down began to show interest. Following meetings with EMI mainly Capitol Records, Mims decided to sign his American King Music imprint with the company in November of 2006.
He immediately began to work on his debut album, Music Is My Savior emphasizing that Capitol Records understood him and his aspirations.
Music Is My Savior
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Mims released his debut album, Music Is My Savior on March 27th, 2007. It was originally intended for release three weeks prior to that date. This was the flagship project for his American King Music label.
The album featured guest appearances from Cham, Bun B., J. Holiday, Junior Reid, Letoya Luckett, Seed, and Purple Popcorn. It spawned the remix for "This Is Why I'm Hot" featuring Junior Reid & Cham. Mims released the additional singles, "They Don't Wanna Play," "Like This," and "Without You."
Music Is My Savior debuted at #4 on the charts.[7] It would go on to sell 300,000+ physical copies in the United States.[8] It would obtain platinum status digitally for the single, "This Is Why I'm Hot".
In 2008, the rapper was featured on the US release of Kylie Minogue's album X. He is featured on a bonus version of the single "All I See".
Discography
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Studio albums
Awards History
- 2001: MuchMusic Video Awards, Best Rap Video, "Love 'Em All" (Nominated)
- 2007: MTV Video Music Awards, Monster Single of The Year, "This Is Why I'm Hot" (Nominated)
- 2007: BET Awards, Best New Artist (Nominated)
- 2007: BET Hip Hop Awards, Rookie of The Year (Nominated)
- 2007: Virgin Mobile, Ringtone Record (Won)
- 2007: BET Hip Hop Awards, People's Champ (Nominated)
- 2007: BET Hip Hop Awards, Best RingTune (Nominated)
- 2007: Vibe Awards, Ringtone (Nominated)
- 2008: ASCAP Awards, Ringtone of the Year (Won)
References
External links
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Mims |
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| Albums |
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| Singles |
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| Guest appearances/Other songs |
"Love 'Em All" · "I Did You Wrong" · "Por Eso Estay Pegao" · "Make Me Wonder Fast" · "Ballin' Is My Hobby" (remix) · " Calabria 2007" (remix) · " All I See" (remix) |
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| Related articles |
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