Reviews, including my own in 2015, suggested that while she had undeniable technical flair, Simz still had to “find her voice”.īy which they meant, partly, that she didn’t quite fit in with whatever was currently going on in music. Simz’s approach has been to explore the areas in-between – mixing up genres, being more experimental than her peers – but it has sometimes been to uncertain effect.Īt first, her music was lumped in with grime, but in fact it cast around for other sounds: dubstep, jazz, down-tempo hip-hop, neo-soul. Women, for the most part, have had to create new paths while their male counterparts get given a free pass down the established ones – even more so, it seems, when your image is not overtly sexualised. There is a lot to be said about the fight to occupy a space when your male peers are taking up all the room, especially in the bloke-heavy world of rap. Or maybe it’s because Little Simz’s sound hasn’t hit the right note yet. (She has also, it’s important to stress, remained independent throughout, self-releasing her records through her Age 101 imprint.) Her tunes trilled with trumpets before the UK jazz scene properly erupted and made those sounds popular once more. Simz was making weird, narrative hip-hop with bold concepts ( Stillness in Wonderland came with a graphic novel, an exhibition and festival) before triple-threats like Kojey Radical bounced forth, blurring the boundaries between performance artist, poet and rapper. That was long before Cardi B had charted with Bodak Yellow and Stefflon Don sashayed on to sold-out tours. Born to Nigerian parents in Islington, Simz starred in various television shows and released a whopping five EPs before her first album, in 2015. Perhaps that’s because the north Londoner was always a touch ahead of her time. “The silence surrounding Little Simz’s name,” said one critic, “has become deafening.”

You do not see her name atop festival bills like her contemporaries J Hus and AJ Tracey. Her star has risen in tandem with grime’s renaissance and yet that hasn’t translated into the kind of accolades given to Stormzy and Skepta. Her last album, 2017’s Stillness in Wonderland, was reviewed positively but didn’t reach the Top 100. And yet for the past nine years, Simz, AKA Simbi Ajikawo, has evaded household-name fame. A track with Gorillaz and another that was featured on hit HBO TV show Insecure. A spot on Forbes’s prestigious 30 Under 30 list. There have been props from Kendrick Lamar – who once called her “the illest doing it right now” – and tours with Lauryn Hill and Nas. The 25-year-old rapper has released two albums and will drop her third, Grey Area, this week.

T he waiting game can be long and lonely – just ask Little Simz.

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