 From the States to the UK, from Lil Wayne to Fiddy Cent, it seems rapper Mims has got literally every single head in the music game talking. Hailing from the depths of New York City, Mims hit gold in the music game, courtesy of his first hit single ‘This Is Why I’m Hot’. The track exploded in the US last month, topping no less than five charts including the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching ring tone downloads in excess of 1.5 million. “I started off DJing when I was 13” says Mims. “A couple of months before my mother passed away, she brought me some turntable equipment and next thing I knew, I was using it as a tool to channel my emotions through. It was my means of staying out of trouble, staying off the streets, that’s why I claim that music is my savior”.
Mims’s new album ‘Music Is My Savior’ is set to rock the shelves on its release. Having already been set out in the States, the album has attracted a huge fan base and has set a peddle stone for the rapper to build his thrown on. The album tells a detailed story of the rapper’s dark and troubled past including the death of this parents, life on the streets and a few cheesy love tracks.
“Basically I grew up in a single parent home” he explains. “My father passed away when I was just eleven years old and so my mother had to raise me by herself. Then my mother passed away whilst giving birth to my little sister when I was thirteen and instead of taking that and turning life negative, I took the positive from it and it allowed me to keep focus on what I wanted to achieve”.
Mims is over in the UK for a little while, where he’ll be performing at London’s exclusive CC bar. UKMusic.com asks the New York based rapper what he thinks of the UK, whether he’s been site seeing and what it’s like compared to the States.
“It’s good except for me not being able to figure out the time of day. But it’s a different experience, I’m happy about being able to release an album out here, taking what I did in the United States and making it international. That’s just another level for me. I tried to do a little bit of site seeing but its hard as I’m working all the time. I saw Buckingham palace and a couple of other landmarks so I guess that’s cool, seeing the different monumental areas. It’s a lot cleaner over here and also driving on the right side is a little difficult to grasp, so I don’t think I can ever drive out here, I will probably just let somebody chauffer me around. I don’t think I’ll ever get it and I’ll probably end up having an accident”.
Influenced by hip hop legends Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, Tupac, and Snoop Dogg, Mims has had a generation of rap stars to look up to however, no one has influenced him as much as his grandmother, who taught him an important lesson or two.
"My grandmother taught me one thing." She used to say 'it doesn’t matter what you’re doing in life, so long as you’re the best at it’. I don’t care if you’re a drug dealer or bank robber or a doctor; just make sure you’re the best at what you do”.
After a much publicised album release, legendry rapper Naz claimed via his album headline, that hip hop is dead. It may be due to the accessibility of the game but the album got people talking. What does Mims have to say about this?
“I’m here representing hip-hop” says Mims. “If I say it’s dead, then I’d just be shooting myself in the foot. I think that we have some values which need to be added back into the game but there’s certainly no problems with the money side of it. They’re letting the money come before the craft that is the music." Mims then goes on to explain "do music because you love it and only think about the money afterwards. Don’t do it because you want to make money, then just make some song about hamburgers cause McDonalds are giving you a million dollars. I make records because I love making music”.
Whatever the problem, no one tells their story like Mims. A true pioneer and possible future rap legend, he’s flow is truly remarkable. Is he the life guard that will save hip hop from drowning in a sea of deadbeat rappers?
“I love the south, I embrace them, and they embrace me” Mims explains. “I understand them and their struggle. I can tell most of them are genuine. Because the South is winning and you make a comment like hip hop is dead, it’s automatically like “ok well who killed it?” And you point to the south. I think that’s the wrong way to look at it because when someone says hip hop is dead, then that’s in their own opinion. You’re entitled to your own opinion, especially a person like Nas, for example, he is a pioneer who started hip hop in my opinion. For that reason hip hop is not dead.”
Mims is also rumored to start his own clothing line. “I’m working on something at the moment and I just want it to be the right thing” says Mims. “I want to make something different.”
www.myspace.com/mimsfanclub
Words by Bertan Budak
 |
