YBN Nahmir

YBN Nahmir is the professional name of Nicholas Alexander Simmons, an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Birmingham, United States. He is associated with gangsta rap, hip hop, southern hip hop and trap.

Early life and YBN

Born in 1999, Simmons grows up in Birmingham, Alabama and is raised by his mother, cousins and aunt. He attends Clay-Chalkville High School in Clay, Alabama. His interest in music begins at fourteen, after receiving an Xbox 360 for Christmas. He starts out with the game Rock Band, later uses Grand Theft Auto V to record gameplay videos, and builds an online following through YouTube. While playing Grand Theft Auto V and freestyling in Xbox Live parties with friends, he helps establish the Young Boss N****s collective. He forms YBN in Birmingham in 2014 with Almighty Jay, Cordae, YBN Glizzy, his cousin YBN Manny, YBN Walker, YBN Nicky Baandz, YBN Malik, YBN Carl and YBN Dayday.

Early releases and breakthrough

He uploads his first song to YouTube at fifteen with Almighty Jay. The track, called "Hood Mentality", appears in March 2015. He then releases several more songs before issuing his first mixtape, Believe In The Glo, on SoundCloud in January 2017, followed by a second mixtape later that same month.

His breakthrough comes with "Rubbin off The Paint", released through WorldStarHipHop's YouTube channel in September 2017. The song goes viral, reaches number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100 and leads to him leaving school-based attendance for online classes. In the same period, he also faces a dispute after the song is claimed by a record label following the sale of its instrumental to a third party, after which he uses an in-house producer from the YBN collective for instrumentals. He releases six more tracks in 2017.

2018 to 2021

In January 2018, he releases "Bounce Out with That" via Lyrical Lemonade's YouTube channel. The track later reaches number one on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and draws large YouTube views. In April 2018, he signs with Atlantic Records. He is also named in XXL's 2018 Freshman Class and appears in a cypher with Stefflon Don and Wifisfuneral.

In July 2018, he announces a European tour with Almighty Jay and Cordae for the autumn, with dates including France, Germany, Poland and Sweden. YBN also releases YBN: The Mixtape in 2018, featuring guests including Gucci Mane, MGK and Lil Skies. He later releases "Baby 8" in March 2019 and "Opp Stoppa" in June 2019; the latter reaches number 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 on its solo version and also appears with 21 Savage on a remix. His debut album, Visionland, arrives in 2021.