The meaning of “So Mi Like It” comes straight from Jamaican Patois. The phrase means “this is how I like it.” In the song, Spice uses that line to boast about her dancing, her body and her sexual confidence.
The track was produced by NotNice and is widely seen as the record that made her a star. According to DancehallMag in 2024, the song has become Spice’s signature anthem.
The Lyrics Explained
The lyrics are explicit, and most of the song is a play-by-play of dancehall moves. Spice describes wining, bubbling, dropping, twerking and sitting down on the beat. She keeps coming back to the claim that no other woman can match the wine she has created.
The song also shows its 2013 to 2014 moment. Spice tells people to photograph her moves and post them on Twitter and Facebook, which turns a dance boast into something made for social media.
The best-known line is her “skin out” catchphrase, an explicit reference to her genitals. Spice has said she almost cut it.
In a 2020 Instagram post, she said she “wanted to take out “Skin out mi pum pum line so bad” and was “shamed and embarrassed when I said it at first”. She then added that the line “made me Rich so I will be skinning out my pum pum right through bye.”
DancehallMag reported in 2024 that despite initial reservations about some of the song’s more explicit lyrics, Spice ultimately embraced them, crediting that boldness for her subsequent success.
The Observer described the song in 2020 as a risque song that has become an anthem for the ladies and continues to be in high demand.
The Story Behind the Song
Spice wrote the song during a hard time in her career. In November 2020, she told her Instagram followers: “When I wrote this song 6 years ago I was broke AF. Home with my kids and told myself if this song don’t Buss big I’m done with music”.
She promoted the record herself. “I drove to every party to get this track played my self. I burned CDs with the little money I got and drove around to give them out.”
The Jamaica Observer pointed out that she had already enjoyed some success in dancehall, and she had even charted on Billboard, but she still felt like giving up.
Production, Riddim and Credits
The song was recorded on producer NotNice’s Boom Box riddim, which also featured songs such as Alkaline’s Gyal Bruk Out and Scumbag and Beenie Man’s What Is This.
Streaming credits, powered by Musixmatch, list the writer(s): Ainsley Shomari Morris, Grace Hamilton. Grace Hamilton is Spice’s real name.
Release Timeline
Sources give different release dates. Wikipedia lists the single as released on 23 October 2013. DancehallMag calls it the 2014 track.
Urban Islandz says it was released by VP Records on December 2, 2014, but that is the release date of the EP. The sources do agree on a few things. The music video came out in January 2014.
The So Mi Like It EP arrived as a digital download on 2 December 2014 through VP Records. That EP debuted at number 14 on Billboard’s Top Reggae Albums.
Spice directed the video herself. In it, Spice and her dancers perform some of their most acrobatic stunts over the booming riddim which still gets fans hyped up from the record-scratch intro.
A remix featuring Busta Rhymes was uploaded to SoundCloud by Riddimstream on Mar 16, 2014. A behind-the-scenes video shows the making of the remix.
Inclusion on Her Debut Album “10”
Seven years later, Spice put the song on her debut studio album, 10, released on 6 August 2021. She told DancehallMag: “I was asked to pick one song from the past 10 years to go on the album. It was a hard decision, but So Mi Like It just hit different.”
Views and Certifications
The video’s view count has grown over time, so the number depends on the date:
- About 92 million views, from Spice’s Instagram post (November 2020)
- More than 100 million views, reported by DancehallMag (August 2021)
- Over 124 million YouTube views, reported by DancehallMag (July 2024)
- Over 129 million views as of February 2025, according to Wikipedia
Wikipedia also says the video became the most viewed music video by a female Jamaican artist on YouTube. DancehallMag has not confirmed that claim on its own.
In July 2024, Music Canada announced the certification of the song as Gold, marking the sales and streaming equivalent of 40,000 units sold in the country.
In August 2024, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded the track its Brit Certified Silver Award, recognizing more than 200,000 units. It was Spice’s first Silver certification in the United Kingdom.
Why It Still Matters
Spice still uses the song as a centerpiece of her live shows. DancehallMag reported in 2021 that she is known to execute almost impossible dance moves to the lyrics of the song during her performances on stage, including her signature air-split to the hook.
She has framed the song’s backstory as a lesson about not quitting: “Sometimes you will definitely feel like giving up but DON’T.”
