It is rare to attend a gig and be left absolutely in awe, but during Little Simz‘s final show of 2019 she proved herself a force to be reckoned with, performing a near two-hour long spell-bounding set showcasing her unfair level of talent. The 25 year old rapper, singer and actress had an incredible 2019; with her third studio album ‘Grey Area‘ being nominated for the 2019 Mercury Prize, as well as Simz having a staring role in the third season of British TV show ‘Top Boy‘.
On stage at a the sold-out O2 Forum Kentish Town, Little Simz dominated the stage. She was joined by three bandmates throughout the show, but Simz didn’t just sing and rap, she made her way around the stage, playing piano for ‘Sherbert Sunset‘, the drums on ‘Offence‘, whilst also playing guitar, bass and even bongos at other moments during the set. This could have felt like a gimmick or novelty, but Little Simz’ was clearly just enjoying herself and wanted to be doing a bit of everything and it didn’t impact the power of her raps at all.
As Simz powered through older tracks like ‘God Bless Mary‘ and newer hits like ‘Venom‘, her rapping prowess was impeccable, as she put her heart into every word she rapped. It also felt as though she was having as much of a fun time and everyone else in attendance. For her funk and soul-infused tune, ‘Selfish‘, Simz was centre stage dancing along with the crowd, then for ‘101 FM‘ Simz ran into the crowd and started a mosh-pit, putting herself in the middle.
Early on in the show, Little Simz brought out Ghetts for their collaboration ‘King of Hearts‘ which hyped up an already excited and entertained crowd. Unexpectedly this moment would later be overshadowed during Simz’ encore, when she brought out fellow Top Boy cast-member and grime icon Kano for their 2015 track ‘Dead Body Part 2+3‘. The whole venue erupted into applause as the two rappers exchanged bars and rapped back to back hyping each other up through each others verses.
When her set finally drew to a close we all knew we had witnessed something special. Rap concerts can sometimes lack energy or feel repetitive, but Little Simz set a high standard for other rap acts to follow. From the staging to the live band…from the guest features to her stage presence: the show was flawless.
The music world is missing out if they continue to not acknowledge the talent of Little Simz.
The Gig Archive 