Who Am I (Sim Simma)

Last updated
"Who Am I (Sim Simma)"
Single by Beenie Man
from the album Many Moods of Moses
Released1997
Genre Reggae, dancehall
Length3:16
Label
  • VP
  • Slammin' Vinyl
Songwriter(s) Anthony Davis, Ahmir Thompson, Kamal Gray, Malik Abdul-Basit, Tariq Trotter
Producer(s) Jeremy Harding
Beenie Man singles chronology
"Dancehall Queen"
(1997)
"Who Am I (Sim Simma)"
(1997)
"Tell Me"
(1998)

"Who Am I (Sim Simma)", or simply "Who Am I", is a reggae single released by dancehall artist Beenie Man in 1998. It is the second track on his album Many Moods of Moses released in 1997.

Contents

The song is based on the "Playground" riddim (instrumental accompaniment), which was produced by Jeremy Harding. According to Harding, "Beenie Man had heard the riddim 'Playground' on several occasions and loved it. He had even written a tune already when he arrived at the studio to voice without any prior notice. I heard a knocking one morning...and couldn't believe when I saw Beenie Man sitting outside complaining about how long he had been banging down the door. I turned on the equipment, and he went straight into the booth to record a perfect version of "Who Am I" in what seemed like one take." [1]

The song samples the intro of the song named "Section" by The Roots from their album "Illadelph Halflife". Because of this, members of The Roots Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, James "Kamal" Gray, "Malik B" Abdul-Basit and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter are credited as co-songwriters of this track. [2] [3]

The track helped to introduce Beenie Man to the world as a new reggae star in the pages of Newsweek and other major media outlets. He used a portion of this song in his reggae fusion single "Girls Dem Sugar" featuring Mýa which was released in 2000.

This song was featured on the NBA 2K22 soundtrack.

Chart success

The song reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart and was his first top 40 hit in the UK. [4] On the US Billboard charts, the song reached No. 6 on their Hot Rap Singles chart. On the Hot R&B singles chart, the song reached No. 15.

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [10] Gold500,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Pop culture references

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References

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  3. "Questlove Froman, on Instagram "I'm biased...my first gold record I ever got was #WhoAmI (my second was @redmangilla's #IllBeDat —-who sampled....said Bennie jawn lol) but…"". Questlove on Instagram. 2020-05-20. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
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