Mims

Rapper Shawn Mims was born in New York in 1981, and is best known for the track "This is Why I'm Hot".

Mims had a lot of false starts to his career before he got his break. An early association with Cam'ron led to collaboration with Choclair on the track "Love 'em All". It was included on the compilation album Private Party Collectors Edition: Vol.2, but unfortunately its popularity didn't extend beyond Canada, which is not exactly a renowned hip-hop stronghold.

His next opportunity came from the single "I Did You Wrong". Although big in New York, the single didn't result in a record deal but did lead to him opening for Method Man, although again he was unable to build solidly on this. Frustrated at his inability to secure a record deal, he established his own label American King Music. He released "This is Why I'm Hot", and things started to happen. The track went to the top of the Rap charts, and No.2 on the R&B chart. Having finally got the attention of the industry, he signed with Capitol Records, who released his debut album. Music Is My Savior (M.I.M.S.), which featured contributions from Bun B, Bad Seed and Junior Reed, was released to mixed reviews, but debuted in the Top 5 of the US charts. Including downloads, the album has sold over two million copies worldwide.