Little Simz is really going places, so if you aren’t paying attention already, you should be. Born and raised in North London, she was a shy performing arts kid who found her voice at St Mary’s Youth Club in Islington. As a teenager, she starred in TV shows on CBBC (Spirit Warriors) and E4 (Youngers), all the while making music and uploading it on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. By 21 Little Simz written, recorded, and released four mixtapes, five EPs, and an album (A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons), all on her own label, Age 101 Music. She has been releasing music for over 10 years! On top of this, she has collaborated with a variety of other artists, such as Mahalia, Gorillaz and Cleo Sol. In 2022 she won her first BRIT award, as well as the Mercury Prize for British Album of the Year and she’s been nominated for four MOBOs.
In 2021 she released her fourth album Sometimes I Might be Introvert, with great critical and commercial success. The album marked a big success for the rapper debuting at Number 4 on the UK Albums Chart. It saw her experimenting with a variety of sounds, from Jazz to Afrobeat. This is the album where we find “Two Worlds Apart”, our Song Of The Week. In “Two Worlds Apart” Little Simz sampled Smokey Robinson’s “The Agony and the Ecstasy” to give us this kick-back track that helps us exhale just a little deeper. Against this backdrop, Simz’s delivery comes like a heavy whisper while Smokey Robinson’s interludes are enough to induce butterflies. The pairing fits: More conversation than sermon, Simz makes hefty subjects—familial rifts, systemic racism, youth violence—more digestible, dare I say, even enjoyable.
Be sure to follow her to catch her latest accolades and hopefully international tour dates!