Search - Mims :: Music Is My Savior

Mims - Music Is My Savior

Constant | Vancouver, BC Canada | 03/31/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Mims (A.K.A. Sean Mims) delivers his debut album with "Music Is My Saviour". The New York rapper provides a sixteen track release which features guest appearances from J.Holiday, Bun B, Bad Seed, Letoya Luckett, purple popcorn, Cham, Junior Reid. The album's lead single is "This Is Why I'M Hot" a commercial hit which has been getting a lot of play on the radio. I will be honest in saying that this song disgusts me, weak lyrics, repetitive beat and a pathetic chorus. I disliked this song the first time I heard it, and would be happy to never hear it again.The album's second single "It's Alright" has Mims rhyming over a bouncy beat, with his best Jay-Z imitation. Mims keeps the braggy lyrics going on "Girlfriends Fav MC" which features singer J. Holiday. Mims then flips the script and delivers a heartfelt cut with "Where I belong", first decent track in my opinion. Midway things go more downhill with Mims providing a lot of subpar material. Singer Letoya Luckett laces the love track "Without You" with some smooth vocals, while Mims does his best Fabolous imitation. Mims talks about being fly on "Superman" in a track that never gets off the ground. The "This Is Why I'M Hot" (Remix) feat. appearances from Jamaican dance hall artists Cham and Junior Reid. Mims does his shoutouts to his family and friends on "Don't Cry'. The bonus track "I Did You Wrong" closes off this release. "Music is My Saviour" is most likely the last Mims album I will ever review - garbage music -potential nomination for worst album of 2007.



"

Not Quite "Hot" Yet MIMS, But There is Some Potential In Th

Musac Critic | 03/31/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"MIMS isn't the next Jay-Z or Nas by any means; he lacks the character of better, more seasoned MCs.However, MUSIC IS MY SAVIOR does show that if you can look past its flaw, MIMS has some potential. Unfortunate for MIMS, rap may be suffering to too great a degree that him and Rich Boy (two rap debut acts of 2007), maybe too little too late. However, with the ubiquitous airplay of "This Is Why I'm Hot", MIMS may stand a chance to raise rap sales, though the numbers are questionable.



After an appropriate enough intro (other than the rediculous rhyme MIMS cooks up), "It's Alright" opens the album up pretty well. It isn't "stellar" by any means, but it is pretty good. The track is pretty well produced, though it does have the slightest bit of a generic feel. MIMS as an MC isn't incredibly agile and being from NY, he has major competition from the best MCs in the East Coast Game (Jay-Z, 50 Cent, etc...) All in all, "It's Alright" is alright. The track is followed by the Billboard #1 Hit "This Is Why I'm Hot". Sure, it is a fine enough track, but there have been stronger rap tracks that NEVER reached the summit on the Billboard Hot 100. I'm sure we all wished T.I. could've made it past his #3 peak with "What You Know" or Ludacris's second single "Runaway Love" featuring MJB could've inched up one more spot to the pinnacle. However, "This Is Why I'm Hot" is a good, if self-indulgent, banger for the clubs. Odd for me is the interpolation of "Jesus Walks" (Kanye) within one of the verses... I mean, did he really have to sample something that was most likely already sampled? But it isn't a bad track.



"Girlfriend's Favorite MC" features one of the most clumsy lyrics I've heard for a while: "I milk the cow, I'm a farmer". What a come-on. It isn't a horrible track, but you can tell it is going to be a bit awkward from the beginning. The production is notable enough, but it is a bit overproduced where "It's Alright" (for example) felt a bit underproduced, "cheap" sounding. The guest vocalist sounds good here, though again, the production doesn't feel balanced and the song is rather unmemorable. "Where I Belong" features a soul sample supporting MIMS's East coast vocals. The production is fine and the track isn't bad, but it is a bit bland. "Cop It" is a production must-hear with its Left-Hand piano bass hit and whacky synths surrounding banging drum programming. The track isn't the "second coming" but it is worth a couple of listens.



"Big Black Train" once again features experimental production work in which you can't quite place who the producer is. Whoever it is maybe receiving a couple of calls after people hear this track. Again, MIMS isn't really appealing as an MC, but the overall sound of this track is what saves and makes it. "They Don't Wanna Play" featuring Bun B and Seed

is a production masterpiece but a collaborative disaster that you know is going to fail from the start. "Like This" is repetitive and corny, but a better listen than a number of other tracks on this ultimately mediocre effort. "Just Like That" turns out to be a "machismo" heavy track asserting MIMS's bravado, which you as the listener to a "new" rap artist has to ask the question, 'why is MIMS setting himself as a veteran in the game?' At least the production and the hook are good.



"Without You" features LeToya (Luckett), who sounds a good as ever. The mellow edge of this track is appreciated after the hardcore-feel of "Just Like That". There have been much better rap/sung collaborations but the track is quite listenable and actually pretty lovely. "Superman" is a production showcase but it actually stands out as one the best and corniest tracks on MUSIC IS MY SAVIOR.



"This Is Why I'm Hot [Remix]" features Junior Reed and Baby Cham in one of the most manic remixes I've ever heard! It features an out-of-tune Junior Reed in what during the hook turns out to be a "bi-tonal" duet with MIMS. Hott Mess, is what it should've been entitled. "Doctor, Doctor" proves to be a better track in which MIMS's flow sounds a bit patterned after Jay-Z and actually comes over as first rate. The production work is hot with the sample and it is one of the few outright tracks I can say I was impressed with. "Don't Cry" featuring Purple Popcorn is certainly ambitious, if it just misses the mark of its target by just a bit (and not all that much, actually). The finale, "I Did You Wrong", ends the album up-tempo and on a pretty high note.



Overall, I didn't think MUSIC IS MY SAVIOR was terrible, but I did find it flawed in certain respects. Overall, it is solid, which is a plus. I recommend the following tracks: "It's Alright", "This Is Why I'm Hot", "Big Black Train", and "Doctor, Doctor". There are a couple of good secondary picks as well such as "Cop It", "Superman", "Don't Cry", and the finale, "I Did You Wrong". I don't think MIMS is quite "Hot" as he proclaims in the lead single from the album, but I do think that with more "study" within the rap game, he might actually be a truly serious, credible MC one day. 3 stars."

2-1/2 stars -- THIS is why he's hot?

Anthony Rupert | Milwaukee, WI | 06/12/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Shawn Mims' single "This Is Why I'm Hot" indicates another one of those cases where a song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 before I'd ever heard of it, and when I finally did hear it, I wished I STILL hadn't heard of it. But that's actually one of the better songs on his debut, Music Is My Savior.



Chandler and Norfeest's respective reviews are pretty accurate, but I have to say that I actually don't think that MIMS is trying to copy Jay-Z's style. MIMS' style seems to be nothing but wack similes scattered throughout been-there-done-that topics. This is evident by lame tracks like "Big Black Train", "Like This" (with its repetitive chorus and bridge) and especially "Girlfriend's Favorite MC". And as far as when Bun-B and Bad Seed show up for the obligatory screwed song "They Don't Wanna Play", the only saving grace is, unsurprisingly, Bun's verse; Seed is having trouble keeping up with the beat, and the chorus sounds like the beat was jacked from Lil' Wayne's "Cash Money Millionaires".



The hidden track "I Did You Wrong" (an ode to sleeping around) starts out fine but then gets ridiculous once you reach the second verse. And as I stated before, "This Is Why I'm Hot" isn't that great, especially with the chorus: "I'm hot `cause I'm fly/You ain't `cause you not". Ooooh; THAT'S telling `em. And the reggae remix of it doesn't go anywhere either. Then there's "Cop It", which has its own situation: the beat is one that you'll either think is great or annoying, but in either case, it isn't helped by MIMS saying things like "I'm hotter than cooked food". "Just Like That" has too many sorry comparisons to mention, and "Superman" is just plain wack.



There is also a little lack of creativeness with the song titles ("Like This" followed by "Just Like That"). And you know an album is bad when the best moments are the intro and outro (the latter features crooning by someone called Purple Popcorn). If MIMS truly thinks music is his savior, then maybe it's time to change denominations.



Anthony Rupert"