The Bottom Line
Mims ends up needing to save his behind on Music Is My Savior.
Pros
- Plausible production
Cons
- Emptyy lyrics
- A product of market research
Description
- Mims' major debut.
- Includes a reggae-tinged remix of "This Is Why I'm Hot" featuring Junior Reid and Cham.
- Features a bonus track, "I Did You Wrong."
Guide Review - Mims - Music is My Savior (EMI Capitol)
Hip-hop needs a breath of fresh air, sure. What it doesn't need is an audaciously unoriginal rapper. As if it isn't deplorable enough that Mims allowed dirty-South-grooved production to overwhelm his natural East Coast flavor, the 26-year old Manhattan MC adopts Jay-Z's staccato flow throughout Music Is My savior.
Too bad, Mims' shoddy lyrics punctures his pompous pose on "This Is Why I'm Hot," making his chief influence look like Mark Twain. "With hip-hop, it's no longer a lyrical thing," Lil' Jigga concedes on "Where I Belong."
A bout with identity crisis takes Mims to Harlem, where he makes a quick stop to pay homage to Cam'ron: "You say you a killer killer...you claimin' your flow is sick, well, mine is iller iller,"he rhymes on "You Don't Wanna Play." Let's just call it filler filler. "So live, this is why I'm hot," he later reiterates on the same track. You know you're having a bad day when your album is littered with ineffective references to your only smash.
The good news is that Mims is not entirely skilless. His seamless shift from pimp tales ("Big Black Train") to reflective narratives ("Don't Cry," "Doctor Doctor") hints at versatility. But in this melting pot of southern bounce, spurious rhymes, and stylistic mishaps, Music is My Savior fails to live up to hype.
Forget Music, Mims needs a new messiah.
