Little Simz – “Lotus” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee, singer & actress Little Simz releasing her 5th album a month after its initial date. Getting her start at the beginning of the 2010s, she would go on to drop 4 mixtapes & 10 EPs alongside all of her previous LPs. GREY Areashowed some serious artistic evolution & S.I.M.B.I. (Sometimes I Might Be Introvert) wound up being my 2021 Album of the Year, even giving a perfect 10. The follow-up No Thank You barely made it on my Best of 2022 list since it came out days after my 26th birthday, finally giving space for the Lotus to bloom.

“Thief” essentially starts off by dissing Inflo after giving her a £1.7M loan in 2023 that she has yet to pay back whereas “Flood” fuses post-punk, art punk, afro-rock, psychedelic rock & experimental hip hop asking to be kept away from Satan’s palm walking a wicked ground. “Young” was my least favorite single of them all despite the blend post-punk & new wave with dance-punk & chap hop in addition to the humorous lyrics, but then the crooning “Only” talks about about solely having love in her heart.

Neo-soul, jazz rap & pop rap collide on “Free” highlights the power of love to set people free in contrast to fear just before “Peace” strips the drums completely so she can talk about finding her peace of mind. “Hollow” keeps it drumless suggests the individual she has in mind is for the cult instead of the culture referring to gaslighting as the work of a deeply insecure person while “Lion” goes for a jazz rap vibe talking about caring less of what they say.

“Enough” warns to not make her pull the plug since she’s fed up bringing a dance vibe to the table instrumentally leading into “Blood” featuring Cashh & Wretch 32 talking about family being their armor in the muddiest of waters. The title track predicts a long night ahead if she’s gonna get high going from being in hiding to the mountains while “Lonely” talks about the loneliness she feels making 4 versions of Lotus as a result. “Blue” ends with 1 more drumless cut advising to carry on with the light at end.

One of my homies Oojadan out in New Orleans once said to me that Little Simz deserves the same amount of respect that Doechii’s getting & I can agree on it since she has a flawless album in this decade. Nevertheless, Lotus reflects the evolving artistry of the London trailblazer & showcasing life’s intricate phases through neo-soul, conscious hip hop, jazz rap, afro-funk, experimental hip hop, afrobeat, psychedelic soul, post-punk, art-punk, afro-punk, pop rap, dance-punk, chap hop & new wave.

Score: 4.5/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Little Simz – “Age 101: Drop 7” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee, singer & actress Little Simz returning with her 10th EP & the 7th installment of the Age 101: Drop series. Getting her start at the beginning of the previous decade, she would go on to drop 4 mixtapes along with her 9 previous EPs & 5 full-lengths LPs. GREY Area showed some serious artistic evolution, S.I.M.B.I. (Sometimes I Might Be Introvert) wound up being my 2021 Album of the Year after giving it a perfect 10 & No Thank You was a late AOTY contender in the following winter. However after 4 years, Simz is returning to put out a successor to Drop 6.

“Mood Swings” starts things off dabbling with hip house a bit talking about her mood abruptly changing on the regular whereas “Fever” tells the story of being in São Paulo, Brazil with her friend over a more tribal beat. “Torch” gives off a glitchy EDM trap vibe a bit advising not to be afraid of the bounce & that she’s trying to be the force but after the 3-minute instrumental cut “SOS”, we have Simz explaining that “they gon’ have to give me more of your soul when I’m needin’” over cloudy trap production. “Power” gives us off-the-top verse for nearly a minute as it sonically gives me a bit of a misty vibe & “Far Away” ends the EP with a jazzy UK drill fusion singing for her lover not to wait around for her.

Little Simz is by far my favorite UK artist in recent memory since S.I.M.B.I. (Sometimes I Might Be Introvert) is one of the best albums of this decade & No Thank You was near-flawless in it’s own right, but this has to be amongst the best installments of the Age 101: Drop EP series in my opinion. She’s demonstrating her range as an artist by rapping AND showing her singing voice as the overall sound here draws from electronic dance music, funk mandelão & of course grime.

Score: 4/5

Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!

Little Simz – “NO THANK YOU” review

This is the 5th full-length album from London, England, United Kingdom emcee, singer & actress Little Simz. Getting her start at the beginning of the previous decade, she would go on to drop 4 mixtapes & 9 EPs alongside her previous LPs. GREY Area showed some serious artistic evolution & S.I.M.B.I. (Sometimes I Might Be Introvert) wound up being my 2021 Album of the Year, even giving it a perfect 10. So considering that, anticipation going into No Thank You after Simz announced it early last week was definitely high.

“Angel” is a crooning opener with Simz rapping about praying for a sign & how good things aren’t granted to you whereas “Gorilla” has a bit of a boom bap quality to the instrumental she she can go ape shit lyrically after being fully charged & bared up. “Silhouette” has a more angelic approach sonically encouraging the listeners to look inside oneself & that what she sees in certain people now in contrast the light shining on them at one point, but then “No Merci” works in some orchestral influences talking about doing yourself a favor & not sell your soul to those undeserving of it.

However with “X”, we have Simz on top of a gospel-inspired beat admitting that she needs God & that her pain will be adored someday leading into the soulful yet symphonic “Heart on Fire” talking about her life being a blessing & being unable to take all the stresses that come with it. “Broken” weaves some strings & swooning background vocals throughout to discuss what it means to feel hopeless just before “Sideways” takes the chipmunk soul route talking about cautioning not to get attached to the version of her you see today & removing toxic people from her presence. The penultimate track “Who Even Cares?” has a more woozier groove to it talking about not being afraid of shit & “Control” is a piano-heavy closer asks her lover to promise not to let go of her hand because their love is all she has left.

Simz has already proven herself to be the most exciting hip hop artist in the UK today with GREY Area & especially S.I.M.B.I. (Sometimes I Might Be Introvert), so it really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that she goes for a 3-peat on NO THANK YOU here. She wonderfully details the point she’s at now without holding anything back & Inflo’s production still has the jazzy/neo-soul undertones of the predecessor with the exception of swapping out the orchestral influences of the last album with gospel.

Score: 4.5/5

@legendswill_never_die on Instagram for the best music reviews weekly!

Little Simz – “S.I.M.B.I. (Sometimes I Might Be Introvert)” review

Little Simz is a 27 year old MC, singer & actress from London, England, United Kingdom who’s been making music for a little over a decade now. She put out a total of 4 mixtapes & 5 EPs leading up to her full-length debut A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons in the fall of 2015, which has been followed up with a couple more albums & EPs since then. But just a year & a half after showing her artistic evolution on GREY Area, she’s back in effect in the form of S.I.M.B.I. (Sometimes I Might Be Introvert).

“Introvert” is an extravagant opener taking you on a journey of what it takes to be a woman whereas “Woman” has a bit of a jazzy, neo-soul vibe paying homage to her female idols. “2 Worlds Apart” has a beautiful soul sample basically telling this man that they’re not the same just before detailing her relationship with her father on the neo-classical “I Love You, I Hate You”.

After the Little Q” interlude, the actual “Little Q” song itself is a harmonious declaration that her journey has just begun & after the “Gems”, interlude, “Speed” takes a more dancier turn talking about how influential she is. “Standing Ovation” takes a turn back into symphonic territory saying she’s blessed leading into “I See You” having a more stripped back sound asking her man all these serious questions.

Following the “Rapper That Came to Tea” interlude, “Rollin’ Stone” has a more boastful tone into a more grime/trap sound whereas “Protect My Energy” explains why she loves being alone & the instrumental is a bit of 80’s throwback. After the “Never Make Promises” interlude, “Point & Kill” has a bit of a minimal yet funky sound saying that you can’t stop her.

The song “Fear No Man” shifts into tribal territory telling cats to leave her alone today & after the “Garden” interlude, the penultimate track “How Did You Get Here?” serves as a piano ballad reflecting on where she is now. “Miss Understood” is a lush closer telling herself to keep pushing through no matter what.

For those who’re still unfamiliar with Little Simz, I think S.I.M.B.I. (Sometimes I Might Be Introvert) would be the perfect gateway into her discography. The lyrics are her most personal yet & it’s really great to hear her expanding her versatility in terms of the overall sound of the album.

Score: 5/5