London, UK · hip-hop · UK rap

Little Simz

4 festivals played ↓

One of rap's sharpest pens, full stop — orchestral ambition and North London grit, 'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert' the modern benchmark.

Little Simz was born Simbiatu Ajikawo in Islington, North London, in 1994 to Nigerian parents. She grew up on a council estate with two older sisters and is of Yoruba heritage. She came up through local youth clubs, among them St Mary's in Upper Street, alongside future pop singers Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke, and later studied at Westminster Kingsway College and the University of West London.

She built an early following through independent mixtapes and albums, among them A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons (2015) and Stillness in Wonderland (2016). Grey Area (2019) drew wider critical attention, earning a Mercury Prize shortlisting and Best Album wins at both the Ivor Novello Awards and the NME Awards.

Her work is marked by dense, personal writing and a delivery that shifts between conversational and forceful. Much of her catalogue has been made with producer Inflo, whose arrangements bring strings, live drums and soul and Afrobeat textures to the records.

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2021) is the most expansive example, pairing orchestral production with material about family, ambition and self-doubt. It won the 2022 Mercury Prize and brought her the Brit Award for Best New Artist and a Libera Award. No Thank You followed in 2022, a sixth album, Lotus, arrived in 2025, and in 2024 she featured on Coldplay's single 'We Pray'.

She has also worked as an actor, appearing in the Netflix revival drama Top Boy and as herself in the film Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and she remains closely identified with the London scene she came from.

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