Music Is My Savior

Music Is My Savior is the debut album from the EMI/Capitol artist Mims (both the artist's family name and an acronym representing Music Is My Savior). It was released on March 27, 2007. It includes the single "This Is Why I'm Hot."

History
Shawn Mims from Washington Heights, Manhattan had been a local rapper that had struggled to gain a solid record deal for many years. He had been able to gain deals with Push Plan Records and UBO Records, but both ended up falling apart. Eventually, he was able to connect with Blackout Movement, who would become his producers. Mims gained connections with The Untouchable DJ Drastic and Erik Mendelson. After these connections did not result in a major label deal, Mims formed his own label, American King Music with Corey Llewellyn and Erik Mendelson. He was able to form a connection with digital label, Digiwaxx, through this, but still had no major deal. He had a single out, "I Did You Wrong," which had been out since 2003. The single was not a hit outside of New York and had no gotten him anything besides a connection with Method Man. In late 2006, he released the single "This Is Why I'm Hot," which has a video from the remix to the song with Cham and Junior Reid. The single was released in the south first and became a huge hit in the United States. The song gained Mims' label a distribution deal with Capitol Records, who were impressed by their collective hustle. They then began work on Mims' debut album Music Is My Savior.

Guests
The album features guest appearances by southern rapper Bun B, underground rapper Bad Seed, LeToya Luckett, Cham, reggae artist Junior Reid, and R&B singer J. Holiday. Capitol Records labelmate Rasheeda provides additional vocals on the song, "Like This," though her vocals are uncredited.

Production
Music Is My Savior features production from Blackout Movement, D. Baker, Ty Fyffe, and DJ Blackout. The bulk of the album was produced by DJ Blackout and his Blackout Movement. Mims has mentioned numerous amounts of time that he feels that his project benefited greatly from his extensive work with the Blackout Movement. He says that he likes them because they give a different sound to his music.

Singles
Singles from Music Is My Savior included the monsterous hit "This Is Why I'm Hot," its reggae remix, "Like This," the summer smash, and the internet hit, "Without You," featuring LeToya Luckett. "Just Like That" was the album's third official single. The song "Cop It" was featured in the upcoming EA Sports game Madden 08.

Critical
The album received mixed reviews. Rolling stone gave it a 3/5, claiming "Mims can't carry a whole album." All Music Guide gave the album a 3.5/5. It earned 1 and 1/2 stars from the LA times.

Label

 * American King Music/Capitol Records

Albums

 * Music Is My Savior (2007)


 * The Autobiography (2008)