YBN Nahmir

Biography

Nicholas Alexander Simmons (born December 18, 1999), known professionally as YBN Nahmir (Initialism for Young Boss Nigga Nahmir), is an American rapper. He was the de facto lead member of the short-lived hip hop collective YBN, and is best known for his 2017 single "Rubbin Off the Paint×Rubbin Off the Paint26 January 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Rubbin Off the Paint2:38", which peaked at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100. His 2018 single, "Bounce Out with That×Bounce Out With That18 May 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Bounce Out With That1:37" peaked atop the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. His 2019 single, "Opp Stoppa×Opp Stoppa22 January 2021 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Opp Stoppa2:15" (remixed featuring 21 Savage), peaked at number 78 on the former chart and preceded the release of his debut studio album Visionland×VISIONLAND26 March 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks1Still (Family)3:462Regardless2:083Politics5:044Opp Stoppa2:155Get It Crackin2:216Fast Car Music (STAIN)1:507PRISON2:008LAMB TRUCK1:289FAST CAR ENDING1:1610Wake Up2:0511Belgium2:1112Make a Wish2:4213Homework2:1714Streets1:5015Woowam1:5916Soul Train2:16172 Seater3:5018Ca$hland3:3619Over Now2:5420Opp Stoppa1:05 (2021), which was met with critical and commercial failure.

Early life

Nicholas Simmons was born on December 18, 1999, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was raised in a home with his mother, his cousins and his aunt. Simmons attended Clay-Chalkville High School in Clay, Alabama, though dropped out following the success of "Rubbin Off the Paint×Rubbin Off the Paint26 January 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Rubbin Off the Paint2:38;" he graduated in May 2018.
Simmons' interest in music started when he was fourteen years old and was gifted an Xbox 360 for Christmas. Simmons began to play the video game Rock Band (which he would later use to record his first song.) and eventually moved to playing Grand Theft Auto V and then started recording gameplay videos where he would generate a following on YouTube. During his time playing Grand Theft Auto V, Simmons would freestyle in Xbox Live parties and alongside numerous other friends, established the Young Boss Niggas collective.

Career

Simmons formed the hip hop collective YBN (an acronym for Young Boss Niggas) in Birmingham, Alabama in 2014 composed by him, YBN Almighty Jay, YBN Cordae, YBN Glizzy, his cousin YBN Manny, YBN Walker, YBN Nicky Baandz, YBN Malik, YBN Carl and YBN Dayday. Simmons uploaded his first song onto YouTube when he was fifteen with fellow YBN member, YBN Almighty Jay. The song, titled "Hood Mentality" was uploaded on March 21, 2015, to barely any reception. Simmons uploaded several more songs to YouTube before releasing his first mixtape on January 2, 2017, titled Believe In The Glo on SoundCloud. Simmons uploaded his second mixtape to SoundCloud on January 21, 2017. Simmons released "Rubbin Off the Paint×Rubbin Off the Paint26 January 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Rubbin Off the Paint2:38" on September 18, 2017, to WorldStarHipHop's YouTube channel. The song quickly went viral with Simmons explaining it as "blowing up overnight." After the success of the song, Simmons began to skip school due to hot weather and exceptional popularity, and was forced to start online classes. The song debuted at 79 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at 46.
In November 2017, Simmons was involved in controversy following his song being claimed by a record label after his manager sold the instrumental for the song to a third-party. In response, Simmons now has an in-house producer for his instrumentals who is a member of the YBN collective. Simmons released six more tracks in 2017. On January 23, 2018, Simmons released "Bounce Out with That×Bounce Out With That18 May 2018 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Bounce Out With That1:37" on Lyrical Lemonade's YouTube channel. The song wasn't available on streaming services for up to three days after the release of the music video. The song has accumulated over 159 million views on YouTube after its release. In April 2018, Simmons signed with Atlantic Records. He was later named as one of the members of XXL's "2018 Freshman Class" on June 12, 2018, competing in a cypher with Stefflon Don and Wifisfuneral.
On July 13, 2018, Simmons announced via Twitter he would do a Tour in Europe in the fall 2018 with Almighty Jay and Cordae. They would visit France, Germany, Poland, Sweden and more. The collective YBN released YBN: The Mixtape in 2018 with Gucci Mane, MGK and Lil Skies, between others. On March 22, 2019, he released "Baby 8×Baby 829 March 2019 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Baby 81:46". On June 10, 2019, he released a music video called "Opp Stoppa×Opp Stoppa22 January 2021 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Opp Stoppa2:15". On March 26, 2021, Simmons released his debut album Visionland×VISIONLAND26 March 2021 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks1Still (Family)3:462Regardless2:083Politics5:044Opp Stoppa2:155Get It Crackin2:216Fast Car Music (STAIN)1:507PRISON2:008LAMB TRUCK1:289FAST CAR ENDING1:1610Wake Up2:0511Belgium2:1112Make a Wish2:4213Homework2:1714Streets1:5015Woowam1:5916Soul Train2:16172 Seater3:5018Ca$hland3:3619Over Now2:5420Opp Stoppa1:05.
On July 9, 2022, Simmons has confirmed to have signed a new recording deal with Def Jam Recordings, making him the second artist to draft instantly to the latter from Atlantic Records since Fabolous in 2006. In April 2025, he purchased a McDonald's location. In November 2025 YBN Nahmir performed at Rolling Loud India under the management of Jason Yang of Veneration Group and Veneration Touring.

Musical style

Nahmir lists his main influences as rappers from the San Francisco Bay Area such as E-40. Talking on his influences in an interview with Billboard, Simmons stated that the lack of mainstream rappers from Birmingham made him listen to more artists from the West Coast such as Eazy-E and Tupac.