Beenie Man Ranks ‘Simma’ Above His ’97 Album ‘Many Moods Of Moses’

Beenie Man has likened his Grammy-nominated Simma album to its 1997 counterpart, Many Moods of Moses, but asserts that the new album surpasses its predecessor.

“I was trying to make back a Many Moods of Moses.  But mi actually mek a ‘betta moods a Moses’.  It surpass it,” he told Two Live Crew hosts Dahlia Harris on Friday afternoon during an interview on Radio Jamaica.

Simma, Beenie’s 17th studio album, was released on August 31, marking nearly seven years since his last project, Unstoppable. It did not impact the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, selling just 500 in sales and streaming equivalent units, according to data provided to DancehallMag from sales tracker Luminate.

However, the album, which the Craig Town native had described as a “diverse offering of songs with an eclectic mix of dancehall, reggae, afrobeats, and drill,” was one of five nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album at the upcoming 66th Annual Awards.

It included songs such as the title track Simma; Let Go with Tina (HoodCelebrity); Fitness Instructor with Shenseea and Ms Banks; Good Like Gold with Shaggy; the Afrobeats song Zimm with Stonebwoy and BackRoad Gee; and Docta with Mya.

Many Moods of Moses — propelled by the hit song Who Am I (Sim Simma), produced by Jeremy Harding on the Playground riddim — had spent 76 weeks on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, where it peaked at No. 1 and 12 weeks on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, where it peaked at No. 151.

The album has sold 279,000 in sales and streaming equivalent units, including 235,000 in pure album sales and 64.4 million on-demand streams in the US, according to data provided to DancehallMag from sales tracker Luminate.

The 16-track project also included the tracks Oyster & Conch, Bad Mind Is Active (My Prerogative), Steve Biko, and So Hot, a collab with Lady Saw.

By 1999, Beenie copped another Grammy nomination for The Doctor (VP Records), and in 2000, he took home his first Grammy for the Art and Life, which included songs such as Girls Dem Sugar with Mya, Haters and Fools, and Love Me Now with Wyclef Jean.

Art and Life, which spent 20 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 68, was Beenie Man’s first album under Virgin Records and remains his best-selling album in the US.

It has sold 477,000 in sales and streaming equivalent units, including 400,000 in pure album sales and 96.2 million on-demand streams in the US, according to Luminate.

His second Virgin Records album Tropical Storm (2002) has racked up 300,000 in sales and streaming equivalent units, including 248,000 in pure album sales and 23.4 million on-demand streams in the country, according to Luminate. This album included songs such as Feel It Boy with Janet Jackson, Bossman with Lady Saw and Sean Paul, and Miss L.A.P.

His Back to Basics (2004) and Undisputed (2006) albums followed on Virgin, selling 231,000 and 79,000 in combined sales and streaming equivalent units, respectively.

In a 2011 interview with the Gleaner, Beenie Man had said that although his partnership with Virgin produced the Grammy-winning album Art and Life, he had differences with executives and producer Jermaine DuPree, which soured the relationship. According to him, not having a significant say in the final product was his biggest problem with Virgin’s top echelons.

“Virgin was all about making mi a pop artiste, which I’m not,” Beenie had explained.