by George Spencer· Published · Updated
Beenie Man is a well-known Jamaican dancehall artist whose discography dates back to 1983. That’s when his first album, “The Invincible Beany Man – The 10 Year Old D.J. Wonder” was dropped. And as its title states Beenie, having been born in 1973, was only 10 years of age at the time.
');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })();That said, he didn’t truly experience international stardom until the late 1990s. More specifically it was upon the dropping of “Who Am I? (Sim Simma)” on 9 December 1997 that he gained international fame.
Success of “Who Am I? (Sim Simma)”
This song, which is a product of VP Records and Slammin’ Vinyl, served as the only single from a 1997 album titled “Many Moods of Moses”. This project was Beenie’s eighth-studio album. That project went on to represent the singer’s first Grammy nomination in 1999. It was nominated in the category of Best Reggae Album. However, the award ultimately went to Sly and Robbie’s “Friends”).
And the song itself marked the first time he appeared on the UK Singles Chart. Here, it peaked at number 10. Furthermore, to this day it stands as the highest he’s ever reached on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs rankings. On these charts, it respectively peaked at numbers 15 and 6. On the Hot 100, it was a top-40 hit.
That said, reggae music never really established a major stronghold in the United States (as evident by the fact that there isn’t an actual reggae songs chart). So this track’s official performance doesn’t fully do justice to how popular it was in the ‘hood. But its influence does become more noticeable upon looking at how many other artists have referenced it in song throughout the years. These include:
- Redman (1998)
- Nelly (2008)
- Sean Paul (2000)
- Logic (2018)
“Who Am I?” also served as the inspiration behind Beenie Man’s 2000 track “Girls Dem Sugar” featuring Mya, which made a bit of noise chart-wise.
The Composers of “Who Am I?”
The producer of this track is Jeremy Harding. He’s the one who put together the instrumental, a reggae riddim, which itself is titled “Playground”. And as he recounts, Beenie had developed a strong liking to “Playground”. Owing to this, “one morning”, Beenie decided to popup at Jeremy’s house unannounced and proceeded to lay down of “Who Am I?”. He further revealed that Beenie did it in practically a single take.
And to note, Harding is also credited as an actual writer of the song alongside Beenie Man.
Missy Elliott’s 1997 track “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” is listed as being interpolated into “Who Am I? (Sim Simma)”. And Beenie also sampled Luther Vandross’s 1987 outing “Never Too Much”. You can hear that in the beginning of the third verse.
The Lyrical Controversy
The release of this track harps back to an era when artist still had the freedom to express anti-gay views without the threat of being cancelled. And when it came to criticizing homosexual men, perhaps no notable genre was as outspoken in that regard than Jamaican dancehall.
Or put otherwise, it would have been (and perhaps still is) totally unacceptable for a male dancehall artist to be a known homosexual. To the contrary, Jamaican musicians were rather known for criticizing and even threatening gays. They often tended to unaffectionately refer to gays as battyman and things of the such.
Meanwhile, there’s a part of the chorus of “Who Am I?” that reads:
“How can I make love to a fellow?
In a rush, pass me the keys to my truck”
The way that statement is relayed can be easily misconstrued as Beenie coming off as if he’s “in a rush” to “make love to a fellow”, i.e. bonk another dude. That’s something that he and Jeremy Harding actually noticed while recording the track. Reportedly, Harding actually encouraged Beenie to change that line. However, he decided to keep it, i.e. intentionally stirring up controversy in the name of helping the song sell.
But with that being noted, Beenie does in fact rank amongst the aforenoted dancehall musicians who have dissed and threatened gays on record. He dissed gays so much to the point where he was compelled to publicly apologize to the gay community in 2012 for tracks that he had dropped decades prior.
');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })();The Lyrics of “Who Am I? (Sim Simma)”
The way Beenie has described the lyrical origin of this song begins with him apparently having imported a new BMW into Jamaica. That would likely be the “Bimmer” (or Beemer, as BMWs are colloquially referred to) mentioned to the chorus, and the original intent was for this track to serve as an ode to said vehicle.
But it reads like on the morning he decided to write them down or for some other reason that he needed access to the car, Beenie was unable to find the keys, as also alluded to in the first line of the chorus. So he asked his brother, who goes by the name of “Simma”, “who got the keys to (his) Bimmer?”
The pair searched for the keys to his Bimmer. But upon the search proving unsuccessful, Beenie, being “in a rush”, decided to go with “(his) truck” instead.
“Sim-simma, who got the keys to my Bimmer?
Who am I, the girls dem sugar
How can I, make love to a fellow?
In a rush, pass mi the keys to my truck
Who am I, the girls dem luck
And I and I will make love to precious”
Besides being a catchy hook, recounting that tale also serves the roundabout purpose of illustrating that the vocalist is well paid. After all, owning the likes of Bimmers and trucks (i.e. SUVs) tends to impress women. And the verses of this song do not focus on Beenie Man’s vehicles but rather his romantic adventurism.
For instance, it has been credibly argued that the first verse revolves around the vocalist’s sexual interaction with a woman who has very deep lady parts. Beenie doesn’t shy away from this challenge. So what does he do? Well as what’s implied is that he does end up playing with her so hard and effectively. He does this so well that in the process she ‘begs’ and ‘bawls’ for him to “stop it”.
But more specifically, the vocalist isn’t saying that he’s done this per se but rather asking the male audience if they’ve ever encountered such a situation, therefore implying that he has.
These Patois Lyrics
At this point, it should be pointed out that these lyrics are heavily and completely rendered in Jamaican patois. So unless a listener’s ear is trained to understand such a dialect, there will inevitably be some parts of the song which cannot be conclusively understood.
For instance, Beenie mentions ‘making love to precious’ in the chorus. But it’s not clear if said “precious” is the name of an actual woman or a term used to describe girls he’s attracted to in general. The reason that distinction may be pertinent is because then the second verse focuses more on a lady who the singer is actually in love with. Apparently this isn’t the same lady highlighted in the first verse.
Or let’s say that this song takes on somewhat different tones. Beenie does continue to paint himself as a womanizer, but now he goes about portraying one of the less-than-ideal effects of such a modus operandi, i.e. the woman he actually loves deciding to leave him as a result.
The Special Woman in Beenie’s Life
The above said, Beenie, goes on to close the second verse by celebrating a particular female’s body. Simply put, he celebrates her sex appeal. And it is not clear if the woman he’s referring to is Beenie’s selfsame “main squeeze”.
Presumably it is the vocalist’s trophy wife. This might be the lady he’s biggin’ up at the end of the second verse. And why? Because the third verse commences with the vocalist actually entreating the addressee to stay. But alas, Beenie is “the girls dem sugar”, i.e. the one whom ladies pine over, and he proceeds to delineate why such is so.
What’s being relayed in that regard, due to the heavy reliance on patois, isn’t abundantly clear. But it seems that Beenie is reiterating that they are interested in his car and by extension his wealth.
The Long and Short of “Who Am I? (Sim Simma)”
Basically the purpose of this song is to put listeners on to the idea that the vocalist is in fact living that life of fast cars and fast women. Accordingly and understandably, Beenie’s main girlfriend is pissed off. But at the end of the day, his argument is along the lines of asserting that it is the other ladies’ fault, as they are the ones who are pursuing him.
