Little Simz’ ‘Lotus’, a gathering of tattered connections and self-assurance
U.K. rapper, Little Simz navigates a state of betrayal from her former producer and attempts to recover from it through a lens of layered beauty and self-discovery...
Greetings, my musical neighbors! Today, I’m diving into a project that I was planning on covering last week, however, due to posting drawbacks, I had to delay it until today (lol). The topic in question is another recent release by one of the most unique wild cards in the rap industry: Little Simz. Three weeks ago, she gifted us with her long-awaited 9th LP Lotus and fans of hers & hip-hop have gone through the roof upon release. This is a project unlike anything Simz has created, bubbling with intense frustration & power amidst a fluidly smooth, ever-changing quiet landscape. Simz digs from the depths of her mind to tell us some painful and content stories that she has experienced for some time, but what stories are they exactly? What disconnection and intolerance has she been facing all this time? One way that might help answer that is by starting with her history…
Artist Background & Album Context
Little Simz (born Simbiatu Abisola Abiola Ajikawo) is a North London native born from Nigerian parents. She was raised, however, by her mother after a divorce when she was 11, an occurrence that would have a major impact in her later work. She was heavily driven by music at a young age, listening to Missy Elliot & Lauryn Hill (which she cites as her strongest influences). She would go on to pursue her passions in hip-hop by applying to Westminster Kingsway College to study music technology. This would result in her creating her early mixtapes. Simz’ would eventually release her first two albums: A Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons (2015) & Stillness In Wonderland (2016). Both albums caught decent attention as Tale Of Trials won an award for ‘Independent Album Of The Year’ at the AIM Independent Music Awards, while Stillness In Wonderland only got nominated for a niche category. However, Little Simz’ success was only just around the corner as she would be spotted by famed record producer Inflo, who has produced for big names like Adele, Tom Odell, Jungle, Michael Kiwunaka, Cleo Sol, and many others. Together, they formed a strong partnership in music, starting with SImz’ breakout record GREY Area, which included Simz’ first mainstream-hit “Venom”, a track of fiery lyricism against sinister orchestration. This album received rave reviews from critics across multiple sites and got nominated at multiple awards and one a few from NME and Ivor Novello.
Simz & Inflo would continue to work together on Sometimes I Might Be Introvert in 2021. The album tackled multiple themes of feminism & introspection and superseded Little Simz’ popularity through overwhelmingly positive reviews, high-rankings across multiple publications, and a handful of awards from multiple shows. The next year, the duo would release NO THANK YOU, which did not receive any awards or nominations, but was equally, if not more, praised by a slew of critical publications. However, Simz’ and Inflo’s partnership would abruptly come to an end when Simz sued Inflo for not paying back a £1.7M loan from 2023. Simz stated that the failure to pay the loan put her at a disadvantage to pay off a full tax credibility at the start of last year. In effect, Simz filed a lawsuit for Inflo to pay £1.7M, claiming that Inflo withheld the money for more than a year, not to mention his company providing faulty accounting to her for funds backed by Sony to cover recording (according to Law 360). These funds were tied to the three-album deal that Simz was a part of, resulting in a payment of £524,436 required by Inflo. Simz gave Inflo the money in exchange for him paying her back by December 4th, however, after no money was returned, even after Simz repeatedly requested him for it, she filed the lawsuit for repayment in January 2024.
The lawsuit is, unfortunately, still ongoing, with absolutely no comment from Inflo himself on the matter. This would set the release of Lotus (this album) back another year as it was scheduled to release in May of last year. Simz would be very limited on the content she would put out during the start of the trial, as the most of what she would put out would be an EP entitled Drop 7 and verse on Coldplay’s global anthem “WE PRAY”. However, we would finally see the lead-up towards Lotus start in February earlier this year, with the release of track 2: “Flood”. It was also around this time that Simz was opening up on how she was feeling about the lawsuit, citing from NME: “I was really frustrated and hurt, and I wanted to scream. But it’s tricky starting off on that foot sometimes.” It was obvious that Simz would be currently diving into how this turmoil with Inflo would affect her on this new record and it is here, neighbors, that we will deep-dive into how she expresses those feeling through her lyricism, orchestration, themes, and even the features that take place on this album, resulting in the imagery of fully blooming into the strength Simz is currently wielding. So without further ado, let’s take a look at Lotus.
Track 1: Thief
Lotus is kicked-off with a strong introduction known as “Thief”, which perfectly preludes to the album’s painful narrative. In “Thief”, Simz spits bars throughout in stark frustration and surprise of the betrayal of a once-trusted source of hers (likely Inflo), as referenced in lines like “This person I’ve known my whole life / Coming like a devil in disguise” or “Financial exploitation / Emotional exploitation / Calculated and conceited manipulation / You a Thief!”. Simz says these bars with such foreboding and sinister tone, almost as if this toxic connection was a secret she has been sitting on for a while and has finally seized the opportunity to expose Inflo. Amidst this tirade of revelation, the production takes on a 90s/00s appeal through mysterious guitar picking, a rampant drumbeat, and an explosive surprise chorus that pops in-&-out of the song’s sequencing. The song's flow reads like a courtroom testimony of retelling all a criminal's misdeeds and atrocities, before chanting “Thief” to put them in their place. This track stands as an explosive prelude to the album’s bubbling frustrated tone, using controlled intensity and raw honesty to reveal the tumultuous cycle Simz has been trapped in…
Track 2: Flood (ft Obongjayar & Moonchild Sanelly)
From the introduction’s lingering guitar at its conclusion, we sharply transition into the album’s lead single “Flood”. This track seems to take the last track’s revelation in stride, yet still persists in Simz’ sinister tone. Except, here, it appears that Simz’ sinister source is emanating from the world around her. We get a thumping samba-type beat, with a dark bassline to back it up as we hear from Obongjayar, a fellow London native also of Nigerian roots (who has also worked with Simz previously on Introvert). His repetitive mantra throughout the song: “As I walk this wicked ground / Keep me away from the Devil’s paw / I am the light”. In between this mantra, Simz articulately mumbles about the scorchingly toxic atmosphere around her and her wisdom she uses to trudge through it: “Number one is trust your position / Don’t trust all the hand that you shake / [...] Number two, don’t take it personal / This place is infested with snakes” It is clear that Simz is in the process of navigating through her life in a fearful manner after just being betrayed, noting that this track’s tone is even more sinister and foreboding, including the clicking/clacking of sticks and Moonchild Sanelly hauntingly chanting Zulu lines towards the song’s conclusion to amplify Simz’ nervous cynicism…
Check the song's official video here for more experience!
Track 3: Young
Transitioning into the third track, we get a bizarre slap in the face. We arrive with nothing but a groovy bass and drumbeat as Little Simz cordially arrives in a caricatured British accent. We hear her ramble on about all the supposedly all the delights of a carefree lifestyle in a cocky attitude: “A bottle of Rio and some chicken and chips / In my f***-me-up pumps and my Winehouse quiff / [...] I taught myself to sing and I taught myself to shout / I taught myself how to get by and go without / I taught myself to make a proper English breakfast / 'Cause I’m a little teapot, short and stout…” The chorus sets the theme of the song very clearly: “Livin' out your wildest dreams, yeah, we're just young and dumb / No responsibilities, don't care for anyone”. It’s not totally apparent as to what point-of-view Simz is trying to advocate for the aspects of being young & carefree: could she be satirizing it & lightly mocking it? Maybe the opposite and celebrating it? Perhaps using it as escapism for the past tracks’ cynical tribulations? Whatever the case, as jarring as the direction this song takes us on the record, it is an impressively unique portion and successfully evokes the tone that it’s trying to convey.
Check out the song's official video for more experience!
Track 4: Only (ft Lydia Kitto)
Our vibes get spun around again as we move into a mixture of styles in “Only”. We get the angelic melodies of a piano in Bossa Nova styles, the multiple percussions of a soft Salsa beat, and the soaring chorus of violins, soft chanting choirs, and Lydia Kitto gently whispering: “Don't you keep me waiting for no other / Oh the lessons that I learn when I'm with you”. These peaceful proclamations of love are further supported by Little Simz’ bars in verses, heavily detailing all the joys and serenities of an unnamed partner. She also details into the release of stress and trauma she has carried with as a result of this connection: “When you ain't here, babe, I be needing your touch / As if your voice it wasn’t healing enough / Sometimes you gotta let it go, baby / Understand when your house ain't a home, baby”. However, rather than the idea that this thankfulness and delight is aimed towards romantic partners, it is possible that Simz may be referencing her relationship with her younger self. Either telling LITTLE Little Simz (lol) that she will be okay or celebrating her very existence in her life. Whatever message Simz is trying to tell, this track serves as a true breath of fresh air from the LP’s rough beginnings…
Track 5: Free
Running with the previous track’s gracious tone, “Free” sees Simz taking its loving message and sharing it with all who will listen. In the first verse, she talks about all miracles and ways of love in repetitive detailed, and in the second, she informs us of the antithesis: fear and all it contributes to through deceit: “I think that love is forgiving yourself / I think that love is offering your immediate help / I think that love is everything that we need in this world / [...] Fear can be dressed in the form of protection / Fear can be the culprit of slowing progression…”. In the interweaving chorus sings a faint choir that expresses Simz’ desire for this message of love: “Wishing that the love will set us free”. It appears that Simz steps into new territory of choosing to live life in love of her surroundings rather than fear, as well as choosing to free herself from past turbulences she blames herself for; serving as a poignant period in this album’s journey.
Track 6: Peace (ft Moses Sumney & Miraa May)
Track Six moves into some more a sorrowful tone of a watery, but deeply produced acoustic guitar and a distant crooning of “I’ve got to find some peace of mind”. Simz’ goes into some purposefully unstructured lyricism of rehashing traumatic experiences and a sense of loss she may have wandered through in efforts of recovery: “She thinks about where she begun and what it takes / All the choices, her L's and her mistakes / All you can do is try, try your best / So, if you can't give her wisdom, at least just give hеr grace / [...] Life riches in excess / Minimalism don't mean you spend less / Love is the currency and it's endless / Don't be a victim of your reality…”. As voices of support and further enhancement of the song’s standpoint, we hear from the voice of Miraa May in the somber chorus, “Don't be afraid when you're falling, you're falling”, and Moses Sumney’s rhythmic singing at the end of the track, urging for an escape from the loss, “I, chasing after empires online / Wishing I could falsify the grains of time / But my sleep's been weak / Seven generations of needin' relief…”. This track serves as a point of grief that Simz acknowledges in her healing journey, serving as another important event in her narrative.
Track 7: Hollow
Carrying into more contemplative territory, Little Simz seems to revisit her tensions that she has felt with Inflo in “Hollow”. For a theme that deals with a lot of friction, the track takes on a deeply serene personality, with a lone ambient synth that descends steadily & gracefully, before being introduced by Simz’ poetry-style lyricism: “Law and order / You was in my corner, allegedly, What a fake supporter / Got a clean heart, I'm Tola's daughter / Daylight robbery of my soul and my world got smaller / Couldn't believe it was somebody I know, a smooth talker”. Throughout the track, Simz raises her tone & speeds up her speech, then slows down again repeatedly, as an echo chamber of symphonic strings and choirs linger in the background later on. It is almost as if Simz’ is arriving to terms on the true stasis of her connection with Inflo that she was unaware of, finding both frustration and content in the way that it is between them now. The emotional wavelengths of this track are beautifully unconventional in the way that they are structured here.
Track 8: Lion (ft Obongjayar)
Teaming up for a second time on the album, we hear a sample of Obongjayar repeatedly singing "We don't care for what they say, that’s my superpower”. We then hear Simz appear in her most confident tone thus far on the album as “Lion” adopts a funky guitar lick and jazzy drums and bass. Simz flowingly spits “Bet you never seen a young black woman so fly / Sim-Simma's arrived / Got the heart of a lion, my Nigerian pride / Everybody scatter, scatter / They say that the task force is waiting for me outside…”. This spunky and proud tune is further enhanced by the smooth squawking of a saxophone in-between and Obongjayar rhythmically chanting “Don't break your neck / Looking for something like this / You will never find something like this / The way I skill them, they gon' give me life sentence…”. The results of this song seems to be pointing to Simz at a place of high-confidence, in better healthy recovery away from her past troubles, as the song concludes after Obongjayar further repeating the song’s opening line eleven more times before transitioning to the next track…
Track 9: Enough (ft Yukimi)
Lotus takes another interesting turn heading into “Enough”, where we start with an upbeat drumline, pulsating vocals, a meandering bass, and a synthetic-kids piano? This unconventional mix of instruments eventually snap out of their disjointed placements and form an up-tempo harmonious tune, before Simz reappears in her new confident stride, this time making her case clear for those who can potentially drag her down: “I thought the world of you / You thought the worst of me / I’m rogue from head to toe / My steez is rock 'n' roll…”. Here, Simz draws a clear line in the sand for her boundaries in the chorus, by repeatedly stating, “Don’t make me pull the plug”. Towards the end we hear Yukimi, Swedish lead singer of electronic group Little Dragon, lend her vocal talents to Simz’ aid in a psychedelic mix-up of instrumentals: “My lightning strike / Need to keep my vision bright / If I lose it and I kick you out of sight…”. The song concludes with a brief outro of the toy piano tapping an unknown foreign dance melody before ushering in the next track.
Track 10: Blood (ft Wretch 32 & Cashh)
Arguably the best track on the record, Simz makes another effort to confront and heal from past trauma by confronting an aspect that has contributed to it: family business, and she does so by simulating a story of a discussion between a brother and sister over the phone. Simz plays the role of the sister (obviously, lol) and Wretch 32 plays the brother, as both trade bars back & forth in a conversational flow, where both express feelings of hurt to each other’s lack of communication, admissions of despondent periods, moments of nostalgia, frustration towards each other’s heels, and the ultimate confession of needing to connect in hopes of finding solace. In between, Cashh soulfully sings the bittersweet center point of what the song is conveying: “Distance in the dark / I feel we've grown apart / If you want greener grass / You have to water where you are”. One cannot describe how cathartically poignant this track really is, for it is one to experience deeply as it tells an uncomfortably deep story that adds nuanced context to the LP’s narrative.
Track 11: Lotus (ft Michael Kiwanuka & Yussef Dayes)
Strangely enough, Little Simz’ journey on self recovery just about comes full circle here on Track 11: “Lotus”. It is here where we fully see Simz’ state of development and recovery and how headstrong she remains in it. She encourages grit to believe in good things to come and the determination to share her findings in self-discovery, whilst stubbornly stating that she will not tolerate the need to succumb to the sorrow and pessimism that infects so many of us today towards a state of nihilistic self-hatred. Her verses revive the fierce “venom” (heh, get it?) in her tone that she was well known for: “They want me speak on world issues on the Internet / But that's not how I speak my truth or the way I express / You ain't got a clue how I feel / And what I suppress / So when you're in the public eye / I wanna see your best / I been saying the world's f***ed from when I was twelve / So don't tell me what I should be speaking on, if you ain't changed yourselves…”. However, she mellows out the flame to deliver a firm, but gracious message before she exits the song: “Rest assured your voice is heard, I'm here listening/ But I don't wanna hear about no talk, about you giving in / It's OK having a moment of weakness when you're low / But you're the strongest person I know, you know”. How powerful is that?...
To add to the song’s determination and unfolding beauty, the chorus is sung in-between by British singer-songwriter, Michael Kiwunaka. Through a vocal production reminiscent of those from your age-old singer/songwriters from the 70s (think Gordon Lightfoot or Jim Croce), Kiwunaka sings in harmony with the ambient strumming of an acoustic guitar: “In my pain is a glory / You kept tryna control me / But your God isn't for me / So I'll be moving on…”. The rest of the song ebbs-and-flows like a graceful river, maintaining it’s echoing acoustics and steadily stuttering drumbeat, before arriving at a waterfall of an outro where violins soar, guitars crank, chorus harmonies whistle and whoop, and the drums go passionately manic. Yet, all of this orchestration falls into a perfect place, almost as if concluding the slow-motion lead up to a lotus flower fully in bloom…
Track 12: Lonely
Now, we examine the conclusion of what started Little Simz’ adventure on this album, and that was her rift and manipulative torture she has experienced with her ex-producer, Inflo. “Lonely” dissects how this fall-out affected her creative process and who she is as a person, even, but, more importantly, how she was able to kill the turmoil that was preventing her from creating and flourishing. She recounts how during the making of an album (likely, this exact one), she felt as if her creativity was sourced only with her original collaborators, who she has cut contact with, “Sitting in the studio with my head in my hands / Thinking what am I to do with this music I can't write? / Team falling apart and I'm caught in the crossfire / [...] I'm used to making it with—, can I do it without? / No figure of speech, I get it by any means / No sucker is in my genes, yet still having more doubts”. However, Simz’ arrives to the conclusion that her creativity and inspiration comes from within herself, and perhaps, that is what she needs to get started and begin again: “I was lonely making an album till I realized I'm all I needed to get through / [...] I was lonely making an album till I realized my story's all I can pour out”. The beautiful anguish that Simz emanates as she recounts this period of her life is further preceded by a crooning chorus sung by herself: “So lonely / A race against time / But take it slowly”. And once again the song fades out almost the same way the previous track did; in a flourishing melody of strings, acoustics, and a soft bongo/drum set hybrid, urging the petals of the lotus flower to bloom even further…
Track 13: Blue (ft Sampha)
The final track is finally here, and we are closed out with the sound of a soothing lullaby known as “Blue”. We are gently ushered in by a lone guitar pick, a soft piano, and harmonizing whistles and humming. We hear from Simz’ one last time, as she asks us listeners what we would do if we were put into the turbulent situations that affected her. This question is not phrased in an interrogative manner, but rather one of wonder and sharing: “If you had a family of four / And the kids wanted things you could never afford / Bailiffs are bangin' the door / Parents are losin' they memory / Your brother is in penitentiary / He writin' to you, but he ain't thеre mentally / How would you feel, what would you do / If you didn't know your identity?...”. As she recounts all the trauma and tribulation that she had to recover from, she encourages all those who made it this far to break free from the mental shackles tied to us as a result from these hardships and cultivate the beauty within us to fight it off in a way that a family would. This message is further voiced by singer & producer, Sampha, who smoothly, yet painfully sings: “There's a light at the end, carry on / You and I found the break to be strong” in between verses. And as the guitar picking slowly slows down and Sampha’s voice fades, the final track comes to an end, thus concluding the album.
Overall Thoughts & Feelings:
There is something deeply affecting about this record that is hard to perfectly explain. Each time I have finished the album track-by-track, I’ve found myself sitting in silence, re-experiencing the stories that Little Simz has bluntly and thoroughly unfolded here and contemplated over the wisdom, emotion, and themes that she has offered and shared with me & anyone who has listened to this album. It is likely the rawest and most intricately honest body of work that I have ever experienced and, as someone in a currently light, but frustrating struggle to express creativity, it is likely a project that I will reflect on in my journeys, not just in music, but probably in life as well…
So how does this record succeed in that manner, especially for me personally? Well, let’s start with production and orchestration of this LP. Throughout the album, we encounter a vast array of instrumentals in all shapes and sizes, that are all caught in the most minute and crisp quality in order to obtain each song’s full tonality. From multiple percussions that enhance the sinister anxious themes in the starting tracks, “Flood” and “Thief”, to the soaring strings that represent beauty and development in tracks like “Free” and “Lotus”, to the sobering guitars that invoke a sense of sorrow and solace in tracks like “Peace” and “Blue”. A number of the instruments are also used to enhance Simz’ sense of confidence, whether it be fierce, cocky or headstrong, in songs such as “Young”, “Lion”, or “Enough”. Whereas, others were used to immerse us into Simz’ contemplative sessions on her recovery in tracks like “Hollow” and “Lonely”, which captivates an imagery of Simz’ standing by herself in a quiet room of some sort, hashing out a testimony of what cycles and conclusions she arrives to in her mind. Whatever the mood may be, it is starkly apparent that the orchestration played a big part in capturing the feeling and tone that was meant to be established in each track. All of this is something I have found very strong in capturing my attention throughout the album.
Another highlight to point out for this record is the giganticly detailed lyricism. Little Simz is probably one of the most heavy and nuanced lyricists that I have heard from the industry of rap & hip-hop. Her songwriting is jam-packed and microscopic in detail and flow, even though she is very blunt in what she is trying to say. It is a method that might be hard to grab for some listeners, but there is no denying that her raw lyricism here is chiseled and crafted intricately to fully captivate the album’s themes and that alone can be very hypnotizing. This also goes for the multi-layered song structures that occur differently across each track. In tracks like “Young” or “Hollow”, Simz’ structures the tracks in attention to rambling in expressive detail to enhance her standpoint and messages she is trying to convey, whereas in tracks like “Blood” or “Lonely”, the attention is directed more towards storytelling and the sub-conscious flow that pour out. The most common method of structure here is the usage of features that appear on the album. From Miraa May and Moses Sumney’s verses on “Peace”, to Obonjayar’s pop-in appearances on “Flood” & “Lion”, to Cashh’s echoic vocals on “Blood”, each feature seems carefully coordinated to enhance each track’s manner and feelings. This is a factor that I found largely intriguing, due to the fact that I recall parts of these tracks from the features that appear on them. Something about these guest appearances seemed to be striking to me…
Lastly, we have the album’s narrative. Lotus’ narrative is similar to that of Kendrick Lamar’s when he released Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers three years ago. The biggest difference is that Mr. Morale’s lens on recovery is from a therapeutic and socially-connecting standpoint that Kendrick develops, while Lotus’ focuses more on the internal turmoil and self-discovery of Simz seems to cultivate. The narrative that Simz appears to be addressing is that in a world where there are those that are trusted can take advantage of your talent and well-being, your strength, beauty, and gifts that you give come from within, not from the sources you relied on to channel them. Knowing this can motivate you to come out of hiding from cynicism and continue to express them in ways you never thought you could before. There is no doubt that there is some strong power behind this message and Simz expresses that beautifully in outlets where she’s either suffering from cynicism (“Thief” & “Flood”), making peace with it (“Hollow” & “Blood”), defining her boundaries (“Enough” & “Lotus”), and choosing what motivates her best (“Free” & “Lonely”). As perfectly expressed as these tracks are to the narrative, these efforts are, however, lightly hindered by the album’s progression, and I mean progression in terms of themes rather than sound. Usually, a recovery album is broken into about four parts: when one is wounded, when one is grieving, when one is taking steps to heal, and when one has fully recovered and continues to develop. Lotus’ track progression is in no way bad, but it is lightly disjointed in a few manners. You have examples like the gracious “Free” that seem to occur too soon in the album’s position of being wounded, or “Blood”, a track about connecting with others in an effort to heal, which seems to occur at a point in the album where Simz has just about made a full recovery. These aren’t large complaints to the album’s quality, because, other than that, this record stands to be incredibly good, but one may find it minorly difficult to follow the album’s progression due to this factor.
Conclude
And here we are, musical neighbors; at the end of our journey in analyzing Little Simz’ latest project Lotus. We’ve covered just about everything from Simz’ deeply detailed narrative on self-healing to the heavily coordinated instrumentation used to invoke particular tones and feelings. I had a spectacular time dissecting and examining this record with you and I hope you felt the same. Now, I encourage you to listen to this album for yourselves wherever you get your music because it truly is an incredible experience to journey through. Also, don’t be shy in commenting on any thoughts and/or feelings you may have on this record, i.e. what it felt and meant to you, your overall take on Little Simz as an artist, comparison to her past works, or anything else you might have to say. That’s all I’ve got for you at the moment, but I have more reviews that await, so until then, Peace, Live, & Bless! <3
Rating Review:
Thief (8.8/10)
Flood (ft Obongjayar & Moonchild Sanelly) (9.3/10)
Young (8.2/10)
Only (ft Lydia Kitto) (8.4/10)
Free (9.4/10)
Peace (ft Moses Sumney & Miraa May) (9.1/10)
Hollow (9.2/10)
Lion (ft Obongjayar) (8.9/10)
Enough (ft Yukimi) (8.6/10)
Blood (ft Wretch 32 & Cashh) (9.4/10)
Lotus (ft Michael Kiwanuka & Yussef Dayes) (9.5/10)
Lonely (8.9/10)
Blue (ft Sampha) (9.2/10)
