You can thank Shawn Mims aka MIMS for spawning the catch phrase "this is why I'm hot" that swept the nation in 2006. The Jamaican-American rapper was born in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan but was heavily influenced by the hip-hop community just south of him in Harlem. Tragically Shawn's parents passed away when he was just 13; his mother had given him his first set of DJ equipment prior to her death and he focused on nothing but school and music as a way to keep himself out of trouble. After a short stint at a community college, the fledgling rapper decided to fully dedicate himself to making it in the rap world.

At the dawn of the new millennium, Shawn got his big break via a spot on Canadian group Baby Blue Soundcrew's song "Love Em All," which was nominated for Best Video in the 2001 Much Music Awards. Two years later Shawn stepped in the studio with Miami-based production team the Blackout Movement to make "I Did You Wrong" and in 2006 he independently released the single "This Is Why I'm Hot" under the moniker MIMS. The song was a radio mainstay thanks to the infectious chorus "I'm hot cause I'm fly/You Ain't cause you're not/This is why/This is why/This is why I'm hot." A label way ensued and MIMS eventually signed with EMI/Capitol, which released his full-length debut, Music Is My Savior, in 2007. The album was seen as a step to get East Coast rap back on top with songs like "Just Like That" and "Where I Belong" that proved he was more than just a flash-in-the-pan (like everyone thought after "This Is Why I'm Hot" was, well, hot.)