By: Bri Renee
From touring with the likes of Lil Wayne and Jeezy on the 2007 Street Dreams Tour performing in front of huge crowds, to penning a song that led to him signing a merch deal with the University of Louisville, B Simm has been making waves. Hailing from Charleston, West Virginia, B Simm moved to Louisville at the age of ten, living in just about every well-known neighborhood. “I’ve lived in the East End, I’ve lived in the West End, Newburg, J-town, Middletown, every part of Louisville. My card is good pretty much everywhere.”
You can tell that his love for the city runs deep from how he gushes over the growth he’s seen since being here. “Louisville is one of those rare cities where everything is unique, even down to the way we say ‘Louisville’. There nothing going on in Charleston, so when I got here there was plenty going on.” He also shows his support for fellow Louisville artists that have popped. Of Jack Harlow, he states “I’m so happy for that dude. Seeing his growth and the way his team moves, and the moves he makes. He makes better moves than most artists that are out right now. Every week, every day he’s got something going.” He also spoke highly of Bryson Tiller, EST Gee, Vory, 2KBABY, stating that he is proud of Tiller but wishes he would keep dropping consistently, because “We need more Tiller.”
When speaking of Seth Firkins, you could feel a shift of energy and hear the change in tone of voice. “Every time I think of Firk, I get tears in my eyes because that man was my road dog. I know his mom, I know his sister, you know, we had a good relationship. He was one of the first engineers I worked with that showed me that like, damn, engineering is a skill.” Simm went to Atlanta with Firkins, who then began working with Shawty Redd and eventually Future. “He developed a lot of my sound when I was younger and coming up, so I owe everything to Seth.”
As far as new and upcoming music, B is planning to drop music videos for songs “5100” and “Bounce Back King”. He also states “ I make songs every day, so that could change within a week. I always try to make my last song better than the one before”. This works perfectly with his new deal with record label Ethika Music, as they are in the “incubation” period and are planning what direction to go in. According to Simm, he was the fastest person to ever get signed to that label, stating that it only took two days. “It took me by surprise because I was just going out there on the humble to play some music and show my talent off. I had no idea it would take off that fast. It didn’t really hit me until I got home.” He already feels at home with the label staff, stating “I feel like I’ve known these guys for years already.” B had been signed before to an independent label, but things “went sideways” and it didn’t work out, leading him to eventually take a break from the music industry, but he wasn’t able to stay away for long, continuing to make music and starring in the movie “A River Runs Red” with Taye Diggs.
B Simm is one of the artists featured on City Up, the upcoming Dope Tho Compilation and documentary. “It was fun. You could collab with people you couldn’t collab with before. The song came out dope and I can’t wait for it to drop.” His career goals include becoming a mogul, similar to Jay-Z, as well as doing more songwriting and creating chart-topping hits for himself and other artists. He also offers some advice to artists in Louisville, “First, stay safe. It’s a jungle out here. Secondly, focus on the music. People try to put the cart before the horse instead of just focusing on the music and getting that right. Get the music first. Lastly, stay consistent.”