For this review I decided not to take any notes beforehand and instead come straight into the review sort of off the dome. The simple reason being that if I was to write a note about everything I liked with this album the notes list would be ridiculous and this review would be never-ending.
Firstly, quick shoutout to Elin who put me onto this album and told me to review it. It is also the first time reviewing a female MC's project. I have spoke about female MC's on a feature before but never had a sole review. No reason for that in particular, a lot of the reviews I do are recommendations from other people. But still, it is way past time that I recognised a woman for the rap skills that she possesses, the same skills that can be found residing in any person of any gender as long as the passion for Hip Hop burns within them.
Little Simz is sooo ill. The opening track Introvert begins with these banging drums and ceremonious horns giving it that feeling exactly. Then (what would be the most hard start to a live show possible) the beat drops and sort of mid-tempo drums come in, accompanied with this hypnotic piano melody that I could almost imagine an Obie Trice rapping on, and that full crop from the '03 Shady Records era. What I like about Little Simz, she will always choose the most creative option for her tracks. For example, for Introvert I thought it was just a standard high-energy bar-fest that so many hip hop albums commence with, but there is a moment when the beat cuts and the horns and drums from the start play again and there is this angelic singing that comes in for a chorus completely changing the vibe but still making sense - it was a cool contrast to have.
Women played next with a nice chilled out, piano led instrumental with a cool sample in the background, and it sounded like only Little Simz should be allowed to rap on this. It was made for her flow and voice and she did not disappoint or let down the Gods. This empowering track that ran through various nationalities of this world to recognise women of colour, the unfair troubles they face and the power and beauty of them. Another great hook, great lyrics from Little Simz and a brilliant sort of 'loungey' beat.
Simz versatility is her biggest asset. She can go from thrilling tracks like Introvert to soothing, soulful cuts like I See You, to Grime inspired numbers like Rollin Stone, then to 80's feel hits like Protect My Energy - and she did all of them very fucking well. The track I See You is a cool one for me, because, projects like Future Proof EP by Erick the Architect and some of the joints from Grip's record I Died For This!? have really made me enjoy that more soulful and chilled out type of hip hop. Of course I do like chilled out stuff but I have noticed it increasing recently and this is likely due to the aforementioned projects, and now I See You.
I know this has not been a very long view - this is mainly due to my lack of notes on the album. I'm sorry, and I do feel as though I have failed to do this album justice. But, I hope from the bits you have read here you can feel my love for this record. Little Simz is a really capable artist, but also specifically, lyricist. Because of my lack of notes I don't have specific examples to call out. I imagine this album is going to be one that I get to know more and more and if I was to do a review this time next year, I probably could tell you my favourite bars off the top of my head. But for now, just take my word that Little Simz has one of the smoothest, comfortable and coldest flows in the galaxy. She has soo many different flows (a myriad some might say) that she can always execute in fire fashion, and the vividness to her storytelling is exceptional, her voice is pleasant, her rhymes schemes are usually on point (there is a few where I thought they were a bit weak), but mostly she's rapping with good technique and multisyllables are being hit. Shoutout to the skits too that knit the album together and lead nicely into the next song whilst providing a cool sort of weird experience to the album. Shoutout to Little Simz for being extremely good at what she does, I will defo be re-listening and checking out her future projects, and ones gone past.
Star Track - Protect My Energy
8.5/10
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