Beenie Man’s “Who Am I (Sim Simma)” is still making strides after 23 years. The song recently inspired a single by American rapper Joyner Lucas with a similar title, “Zim Zimma.” On Tuesday, May 18, Lucas dropped the visual for the song, featuring stars Mark Wahlberg, George Lopez, and Diddy.
In the video, Wahlberg gave a shout-out to Beenie Man, declaring that he preferred Beenie Man’s 1998 original version of the song. Apart from the title that is outrightly derived from Beenie’s classic, a number of the bars by Lucas also samples the King of Dancehall’s original version.
This includes lines such as “Zim zimma, Who got the keys to my motherfkin’ Beamer?” and “Zim Zimma/I’m the girls dem sugar/I’m a trill as ni.”
Joyner Lucas continues his cinematic-type approach to his visuals for this one. Throughout the clip, he can be seen searching for the keys to his beamer before he notices that Oscar-nominated actor Mark Wahlberg is in possession of them. Sadly things take a turn for the worst when Wahlberg crashed the new ride. As Lucas gets upset and storms off, Wahlberg proclaims, “I like Beenie Man’s sh*t better anyway.”
Joyner Lucas’ song is not the first to sample Beenie Man’s 23-year-old classic. Entertainers such as Redman and Nelly have done similar creative work stemming from the song.
Additionally, this is not the first Joyner Lucas song to use incorporate dancehall elements. The rapper’s 2014 breakout single “Riding Solo” featured Jamaican dancehall veteran Busy Signal. The video for that single was also captured in Jamaica. The love for the Jamaican culture became even more noticeable when it was revealed that it was his first time taking a trip outside of the United States for a video shoot.
Beenie Man has not yet responded to the endorsement, but the Dancehall icon is getting ready to release a new album titled “Simma” this summer. “Simma” will be Beenie Man’s first studio project in 13 years.
