This Is Why I'm Hot

MIMS is the latest rookie kicking on hip-hop's door, donning Harlem fashion, swagger and flow and hoping to bring the coveted East Coast crown back to New York. In debut single "This Is Why I'm Hot," he rhymes with a smooth Southern flow, enlisting Miami-based producer the Blackout Movement (along with perhaps a record-breaking 13 total writers), to create what sounds like a first-quarter staple. On the hook, "I'm hot cause I'm fly/You ain't cause you not," MIMS gloats on a track that is already generating burn on The Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts. His early success was not easy. He pushed "This Is Why I'm Hot" independently under his own American King Music for a year prior, generating 1,000 music spins per week and more than 1 million MySpace streams. With forthcoming debut album "Music Is My Savior," his hustle may make him one of the "Hot" commodities for the year. A promising major label renaissance.—Charles Perez