Born and raised in Philadelphia, R&B singer and songwriter
Sterling Simms was heavily coached by his grandfather, a musician himself, to be a performer. He exposed
Simms to classic soul artists like
Sam Cooke and even helped
Simms record his first song at age six. Inspired by new jack swing artists like
Teddy Riley,
New Edition, and
Boyz II Men,
Simms moved to Atlanta to pursue his singing career when he turned 14. He seized on the opportunity to work with up-and-coming producers (who were his co-workers at a car wash) when they established their own imprint and landed a deal through Sony. Due to restructuring, however, Sony eventually dropped the imprint, leaving
Simms extremely frustrated. He moved back to Philadelphia, but was motivated to record again after hooking up with an old contact, '70s Philly soul auteur and producer
Kenny Gamble, who offered
Simms free studio access.
Returning to Atlanta,
Simms formed the songwriting company Knightwritahz with several other writers, since he was more comfortable writing for others in the background than being a full-fledged artist. Through his company,
Simms wrote songs for several R&B singers, including
Mario and
Tyrese. However, after crossing paths with producer
Teddy Bishop in 2004, he wanted to perform again, and great opportunities kept coming his way. He first signed with the indie label One Recordings, which led to his demo falling into the hands of Island Def Jam executive
Antonio "L.A." Reid.
Simms was then picked up by Def Jam and even appeared on rap superstar
Jay-Z's comeback album
Kingdom Come at 2006's end. Around the same time, his single "Jump Off," featuring rapper
Sean Paul of
YoungBloodZ, was enjoying regular rotation on urban radio. ~ Cyril Cordor, All Music Guide