Still, this is Simz at her most enjoyable, delivering everything that makes her distinct but with a welcome layer of polish. Her loyal fans compare her to ‘Picasso with a pen’ because.
Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Lauryn Hill, and more are united in their unwavering praise for the lyrical maverick. Less successful is Little Dragon-featuring Pressure, where barbed rapping, heavy drums and gentle piano chords feel at odds with one another. And even though her third album Grey Area, won Best Album at both the 2020 Ivor Novello Awards and the NME Awards, Simz still believes she’s overlooked and rightly so. Over producer Inflo’s thin electronic beat that sounds like it was teased out of a hacked Gameboy, 101 FM evokes the star’s youth as she remembers growing up to the pirate radio stations that grooved London in the 00s. As the title suggests, the London rapper is still bridging that gap between her grime and underground hip-hop beginnings and a burgeoning artistic profile that has garnered praise from Kendrick Lamar, tours with. The biggest phenomenon and I’m Picasso with the pen. On the other end of the stylistic spectrum, the simple piano chords and sweet hook of Selfish forms a fresh slice of laidback lounge rap.Īs ever, Simz’s writing is sharp. ALLOW me to pick up where I left off, Little Simz spits on ‘Offence’, the opening track of third album GREY Area. The battering drums of Boss sees Simz at her most dissonant, while the fuzzy bassline and dramatic strings of Offence sound like they were captured from the grubbiest corner of the 70s soul canon. 1/2 (4.5/5 stars) Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, Little Simz’ follow-up to 2019’s GREY Area (a Mercury Prize shortlist nominee and NME’s 2020 British Album of the year), is every bit the impressive star turn its predecessor was. Simz, in her familiar north London tone, raps over the kind of heavy, percussion-driven beats that Nas was leaning on a decade ago.
On third album GREY Area, the deep-thinking rapper matches these indomitable strengths with a richer set of instrumentals and more adroit songcraft than before. There’s plenty to admire about Little Simz but there hasn’t always been a lot to enjoy.
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