The Contradictions of Little Simz.
At the Riviera Theater, Little Simz blended fierce confidence with striking vulnerability, embodying the contradictions that fuel her artistry.
photos taken by Mete Bakircioglu.
During her NO THANK YOU tour at the Riviera Theater, Little Simz made her most striking comment in the middle of the set. It wasn’t a lyric—though there were many she delivered with ferocity. It happened after a song when Little Simz stood breathless on the stage in her loose black suit. She watched the audience, making eye contact with the thousands who packed the Riviera. After a moment, she said, “You are witnessing greatness. And I don’t say that with arrogance—I say that with confidence.”
Little Simz is British-Nigerian artist Simbiatu “Simbi” Abisola Abiola Ajikawo’s stage name. Her friends describe her performance onstage as a metamorphosis: “Simbi the person is a lot more to herself, but because I’ve known her as a virtuoso, I understand the moments she taps into Little Simz.” One of Little Simz’s strengths is that she matches brazen confidence, as described above, with vulnerability. She titled an album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.
photo taken by Mete Bakircioglu.
The first Little Simz song I heard was “Point and Kill,” in the soundtrack to a Maya Dance Company show. Dancers moved to the pulsating beat: Little Simz melds rap, soul, funk, and Afrobeats. The program read “Go listen to Little Simz!” It had been a long weekend, but something in the jubilant song—in its effervescent rhythms—made me want to dance.
I became obsessed with her song “Gorilla,” which opens with an addictive horn riff, reminiscent of MF Doom (or an MF Doom track covered by Abstract Orchestra). The song soundtracked my spring. I listened to it over and over again, walking to the Reg as the trees outside unfolded in bloom. The song features unending rhythmic riffs as Little Simz declares her finesse. “New Simz drop to shake the whole shit up!” she says. Her discography, which moves from the smooth catchy hooks of songs like “Woman” to the high-tempo danceable “Fever,” proves her right.
At the concert, I could hardly believe I had secured a press pass to enter. The security guard in front of the stage couldn’t believe it either. “You guys are registered as press and photographer?” he said. Our photographer held up a digital camera, and the guard begrudgingly let us through. There she was, Little Simz herself, standing right above my head.
Watching Little Simz perform live, it is clear that her music evades categorization. She is of course a rapper, as anointed by Kendrick Lamar, who said in 2015 “Little Simz, she might be the illest doing it right now,” but she also samples many other styles. A rich example is her decision in the live show to segway into “Gorilla” with Santana’s “Maria Maria.” Santana’s electric guitar riff, sampled in Rihanna and DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts,” references Bernstein & Robbins’ “West Side Story,” which itself reworks Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” The band wove the track into her discography seamlessly. The electric guitar could go on forever.
photos taken by Mete Bakircioglu.
In 2022, Little Simz was forced to cancel her tour, citing financial difficulties. Later, she spoke up about mental health challenges. Before her song “Broken,” she explained that she “wrote this song in a very low period.” In the song, she raps “Everybody so obsessed with the CEO/She probably got the most troubles that she’ll never disclose.” When she sings this lyric from the stage of the Rivera Theatre in her suit, you have to wonder if the CEO stands in for her.
Then she shapeshifts, screaming to the crowd, “Give me one hundred and ten percent energy!” and you can forget about the cancellations and the low moments. But it is this duality, this vulnerability underlying the bombast, that makes her great. All night, the Chicago crowd stays on their feet.
edited by Camille Cypher.
photos by Mete Bakircioglu.