Little Simz — Lotus
The resilient lotus flower, which seeks light and blossoms out of muddy waters, carries heavy religious symbolism.
The allegory to Lotus , Little Simz' stellar sixth album, is obvious. The artisanal British rapper has gone through a tumultuous period yet emerged with music that transforms trauma into triumph.
Lotus comes roaring out the gate with 'Thief', a scathing diss track aimed at childhood friend and long-term producer Inflo, accusing him of "financial [and] emotional exploitation." In March, Simz sued Inflo (real name Dean Cover) over an alleged £1.7million (AU$3.5m) in unpaid loans.
Over a murky arrangement of stalking bass, horror movie strings and spaghetti western guitars, Simz snarls: " I'm lucky that I got out now / It's a shame, I really feel sorry for your wife … This person I've known my whole life, coming like a devil in disguise .'
Penultimate track 'Lonely' offers a more pensive take on the relationship breakdown. Simz confesses ' I was lonely making an album, attempted it four times' , leading to a crisis of confidence where she nearly called quits on her music career.
' Tryna make an album means baring your whole truth/unpacking the f**kery I'm trying to heal through,' she laments over smoky piano and backing that's as spare as 'Thief' is fiery.
The demise of such a crucial creative partnership would tank most artists. But Simbiatu Ajikawo is absolutely not most artists.
Across the record's 13 tracks she sounds as commanding as ever, tapping her full toolkit — devilishly smart bars and devastatingly honest lyricism; a thoughtful approach to mixing sounds and genres — to re-assert her artistry.
Helping exercise her demons is new producer Miles Cinton James, who wrangles everything from swooning orchestras to funky ensembles for instrumentals that span rock ('Flood'), jazzy neo-soul ('Free'), acoustics ('Peace'), Afrobeat, bossa nova and beyond.
Also on hand is an impressive cast of guests, including Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano, the tender-voiced Sampha, and Obongjayar — the Nigerian-born, London-based polymath enhancing the thudding 'Flood' and swaggering stand-out 'Lion'.
'We don't care for what they say, that's my superpower' he boasts casually on Simz' behalf on the latter against a smooth, West African-inflected groove that's diabolically catchy.
The brilliant Michael Kiwanuka is a soulful ballast to Simz' bite on the title track, a sprawling epic that allows breathing room for acclaimed jazz drummer Yussef Dayes to strut his stuff.
Another raw highlight is 'Blood', a back-and-forth with British rapper Wretch 32 that plays out as an arresting, authentic conversation between frustrated siblings. It proves Simz is a master of the storytelling craft as much as revered MCs like Kendrick Lamar and Dave
It isn't all so serious, though. The slinky 'Only' and toy-piano-and-bass-charged 'Enough' engage with playful braggadocio. Meanwhile, the tongue-in-cheek 'Young' sounds like it escaped from The Streets' discography, Simz adopting a rich-kid persona to skewer class disparity.
Each track on Lotus stands tall in isolation, but taken together it results in a rewarding listening experience that's balanced between 2021's dense, Mercury Prize winning Sometimes I Might Be Introvert and the tough urgency of its surprise follow-up, 2022's No Thank You .
Though Lotus was born from grief, anger, self-doubt, and burnout, Simz sounds like an elite athlete recovering from an injury that's only briefly affected her game.
It marks a major turning point in her career but is less a rebirth and more an evolution, a re-affirmation of Little Simz's legacy as one of hip hop's all-time greats.
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