Issue 35: A Little Simz Family Tree
A spotlight on Little Simz, her latest EP, and albums that influenced her.
Welcome back to Band Practice where I listen to lots of new—and sometimes older—music and share my favorite finds with you. Several great albums have already come out this month (and I’ll get to those in the next issue) but, I want to devote this issue to one of my favorite (and I would argue one of the best) rappers in the game right now: Little Simz. She just released a banging new EP, Drop 7, that I’ve kept on repeat more than any other album this year. Yes, I could just spend a few words giving my thoughts on the album (which I’ll do), but it inspired me to try something new. If you’re not usually a fan of rap/hip-hop, or if change is scary…stick with me! A) There’s more than just rap in this issue. B) I’ll hold your hand. C) I think you’ll enjoy it.
Some of you may already be familiar with British rapper/singer Little Simz from my previous review of her 2022 album NO THANK YOU or from just generally having good taste.1 But for those who aren’t, she is an award-winning experimental rapper who has been performing since 2015. Other pertinent deets you should know are that she was born Simbiatu “Simbi” Ajikawo in London to Nigerian parents and grew up on a council estate (government housing). (Today is also her 30th birthday! I didn’t plan that!) She has released five LPs, several mix tapes, and 11 EPs in less than a decade. But to really get to know her, I have put together what I’m calling a “family tree,” if you will (and I hope you will) to help you better understand her art and its influence.
First, we’ll look at her roots: three artists that influenced her and an album from each—sharing some of her words about them and then my own. Then I’ll share my favorite album of hers, as well as her new EP. Finally, I’ll talk about the branches of the Little Simz tree—her contemporaries and collaborators—giving shout-outs to a few artists you should listen to if you like Little Simz. I have also included a playlist (natch) at the end of the issue featuring each of the artists mentioned in the family tree, along with some of my favorite Little Simz tracks.
My hope is, if you don’t know Simz’s work, you’ll know some of the other artists here and it will inspire you to listen to her. Or, if you’re already a fan, you’ll find some other artists in here to enjoy. Whatever you discover in this issue (maybe everything! maybe nothing!) there’s a lot of good music to enjoy.
If you like the format of this issue and think I should try it again, please let me know in the comments. I’m also up for suggestions on whose “family tree” to do next time (if there’s a next time).
Okay, let’s get to it!
The roots: influential artists
(Simz’s words are in block quotes.)
Lauryn Hill — The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
R&B/Soul/Hip-Hop/Neo-Soul [Released in 1998]
I think The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was really my education. Lauryn Hill was one of the first artists that really made me feel the power of music. Just knowing that, Oh shit, this can actually give me goosebumps – I only got that with a couple of artists.2
Like Simz, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was my education in soul and hip-hop. The sound was almost entirely new to me and I had never heard anyone who could both sing and rap. For me, and everyone, it was a game-changing album and an important part of hip-hop history. The album not only mixed genres (hip-hop, soul, funk, gospel) but helped birth a whole new one: neo-soul (a more progressive and diverse form of R&B that drew upon that mix). Its semi-conceptual structure intersperses interludes/skits of a classroom full of kids talking about love. Hill effortlessly flows over simple beats in songs like “Lost Ones,” pivoting to singing in songs like “To Zion,” and doing a bit of both in the retro-pop banger “Doo Wop (That Thing).” With this album, Hill carved out a name for herself as a poet and an innovator—two qualities that are certainly present in Simz.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
Nina Simone — Baltimore
Jazz [Released in 1978]
When making the [Sometimes I Might Be Introvert], she studied timeless music – “classic albums” by Nina Simone and Etta James – not so much to borrow their sound, but their structure. When I ask what her Desert Island Discs are, she gets excited and pulls out her phone. “Ooohhh, let me go on my Spotty. Ah, see, look, I was just playing [Nina Simone’s] Baltimore. Probably Etta, At Last. A Love Supreme [by John] Coltrane. Records that any time you put on, you’re just in, it doesn’t feel dated.”3
This is a bit of a deep cut from the “High Priestess of Soul” and one of Simone’s final albums.* Never one to confine her sound to a single genre, Baltimore is just as diverse as her earlier works blending reggae (set to strings), soul, jazz, and gospel. Simone had little creative control over the album (the original songs were written and composed by Randy Newman) except for her performance. Though chooses more restrained vocals, she remains a powerful storyteller. Her rendition of Judy Collins’ “My Father,” saturates it with heartache in contrast to Collins’ sentimental one. While the album may be diverse, it is Simone’s delivery that makes the album feel so timeless.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
*While this is an acceptable place to start, if you’re new to Nina Simone’s music, I also recommend The Best of Nina Simone.
The Notorious B.I.G. — Ready to Die
Hip-hop/Rap [Released in 1994]
In her bedroom, Little Simz listened to Busta Rhymes, Nas and Biggie Smalls, and dreamed of being like them, she said: a rap legend who spoke to their listener, not at them. She wrote their lyrics out in notebooks, trying to work out how the artists turned stubborn words into something slick and percussive. The natural and chatty approach of Biggie Smalls, in particular, drew her in: “If you took away his flow and instrumental, he could just be talking to you.”4
The Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls, aka Christopher Wallace) hailed from Brooklyn, New York, and was an influential (understatement) player in the East Coast hip-hop scene. Championed by Sean “Diddy” Combs, he put out his debut release, Ready to Die just a few short years before he was murdered in a drive-by shooting. It was the only album he released while he was alive. His sonorous voice gave his sharp, conversational style swagger (see lead single “Juicy” for a prime example). His stories were autobiographical and raw, often addressing inner-city violence, the war on drugs, and their impact on Black communities. The lyrics are (very) explicit, with the occasional unfortunate misogynistic turn of phrase, but there is much to be appreciated about the art and skill he put into his work without endorsing all of its content (but maybe skip the X-rated skit ‘F*** Me’). Though his time was cut short, his legacy which can be traced through artists like Simz, continues to live on.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
My favorite Little Simz album
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Hip-Hop/Rap [Released 2021]
Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is a cinematic conceptual album upon which Simz fully and unabashedly brings her inner creative world to life. The name of the album (which is a backronym of “Simbi”) indicates both her biggest obstacle and strength: her introversion. She is guided by the help of a narrator (The Crown’s Emma Corrin) to open up, claim her power as a Black woman, and share her art with the world. Throughout the album, she asserts that the personal is political and the political is deeply personal. Lyrics about her absent father, street violence, present-day apartheid, and the strength of Black women are knitted together into one wholly new symphonic organism.
There is so much on the album that can be traced back to her roots. Biggie’s autobiographical storytelling and that “slick and percussive” flow can be found in Simz’s style. The format of the album and use of spoken interludes to connect a narrative references The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Hill and Simone’s flexibility in genres is also present here. Simz infuses hip-hop with R&B, Afrobeats, jazz, and soul—not to mention the strong orchestral thread throughout the album. There is also a thematic parallel between Simone’s “My Father” and Simz’s “I Love You, I Hate You” which addresses her complicated relationship with her father. Above all, the album possesses something present in all three of them: timelessness.
The album won her the Mercury Prize in 2022—an award that honors the best album from the UK and Ireland—and rightly so. Like Hill, she changed the game for what a hip-hop album could sound like. From the boldness in sound to the vulnerability and consciousness of her lyrics, Simz has proved herself to be a fearless new leader of the genre.
Tracks on repeat: Woman; I Love You, I Hate You; Point and Kill
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
Her latest EP
Drop 7
Hip-Hop/Rap [Released 2/9/24]
One of the reasons that Little Simz’s music is so remarkable is how she consistently breaks her own mold. Ever the risk-taker, she uses her EPs to experiment with new directions and this one is no exception. A far stretch from the orchestral S.I.M.B.I. and NO THANK YOU, she doesn’t just bend genres, she breaks them within the span of 15 minutes. Sounds like Afroswing, Alté, reggaeton, Jersey club, and trap are jammed into a hip-hop confetti cannon and detonated into vibrant shards of transcendent vibes.
She uses the compacted format to play around, rapping in Portuguese on “Fever,” letting instrumentals take the forefront in “S.O.S,” and singing on “Far Away.” She doesn’t take any lyric too seriously, but she’ll still have you know that, “with my words like butter, motherfucker, I'm the smoothest.” From the first few bass thumps in “Mood Swings,” it is clear that this EP is for bad bitches only. And, when I put it on, I feel like the baddest bitch in all the land. This could just be a one-off, but I do hope there is more to come.
Tracks on repeat: Mood Swings, S.O.S.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
The branches: contemporaries and collaborators
If you like Little Simz, listen to…
Cleo Sol — R&B singer/songwriter
A longtime collaborator of Simz, Sol’s songs are so soft and soothing, that listening to them feels like being swaddled. Her whispery voice is often paired with modest accompaniments delivering soul in its purest form. My favorite album, Mother, chronicles her immersion into motherhood, with many of the songs dedicated to her first child.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
Sault — Soul/funk collective
Simz and Sol have appeared on albums and live performances with this mysterious and loosely anonymous British collective, which also has a knack for experimentation. Sometimes powered by no more than a sturdy bass line and unwavering faith in God, their shape-shifting sound ranges from stripped-down soul and gospel to full orchestral and choral suites, with a lot of great funk in between. While there are many excellent albums to start with, I suggest one of my recent favorites: 11.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
Noname — American rapper
Perhaps the most socially conscious rapper in the game, Noname (aka Fatimah Warner) spits venomous rhymes that speak truth to power—even if it means critiquing her peers or herself. I highly recommend her most recent album, Sundial, which sets her lyrics to a neo-soul soundtrack.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
Stormzy — British rapper/singer
A long-time friend of Simz, Stormzy is an obvious recommendation. Also known to play with genre, his brand of hip-hop pulls from gospel and soul, with nimble switches between singing and rapping. I recommend his 2022 release This Is What I Mean, where he is joined by artists like India.Arie, Sampha, and Jacob Collier.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
Dave — British rapper
Ok, one more British rapper! While not directly connected to Simz, Dave shares her clear-headed lyricism that has also won him a Mercury Prize. Also of Nigerian heritage, in We’re All Alone In This Together (the album that hooked me as a fan), he raps about being othered as a child of immigrants in a colonialist country. He is another UK force to keep an eye on.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music
A Little Simz family tree playlist
Want a taste of the Little Simz universe without diving into all of these albums? You know I’ve got you covered. I put together a playlist featuring some of my favorite songs of hers, as well as one from each artist featured in this issue. The Spotify and Apple Music versions are linked below.
Little Simz family tree - Apple Music version
Little Simz family tree - Spotify version
Coming up
The next issue will cover my favorite albums of February, and I’ve got some great picks for it already. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it.
I love hearing what you have to say! If you have feelings about this issue, questions for me, album recommendations, or any other thoughts, send them my way by leaving a comment or replying to this email. You can also reach me at bandpracticenewsletter@gmail.com
Name one time when I didn’t deliver
Said jokingly. I still don’t believe in “good” taste.
Echoing more family tree issues! Super fun exploration.
Drop 7 is so good! The way it’s mixed it sounds like one long piece. Also yes to what Laura said. More family tree issues!