Little Simz, Lotus: an existential crisis never sounded so gripping

Telegraph

6 days ago

There is nothing fragrant nor floral about Lotus, the sixth album from Britain's most gifted rapper, Little Simz. Veering wildly between defiance and introspection, the overriding mood is dark, and the tone is tough, with something bruised and battered at its core.
It opens with the hypnotically fierce blast of Thief, a propulsive post-punk take on a jazzy sixties spy theme, with Simz delivering a vicious character assassination in a machine-gun blast of snarling rhymes. It's a sensational, shiver-inducing intro, but its anger is fuelled by a sense of personal hurt that lingers throughout the album, and even Lotus's most joyously upbeat tracks (Flood, Young, Free and Lion) can't quite shake it.
A profound sense of existential crisis underpins Lotus, expressed most unequivocally amidst the jazzy piano spaces of Lonely, in which Simz confesses 'I don't even know who I'm meant to be anymore.' Distinctive British soul singer Sampha serenades her despondency in sweet, sad tones. His voice is also prominent on sombre end track, Blue, which finds Simz questioning how people cope with life's sense of perennial injustice, noting 'the truth is God still loves your enemies' amidst a cascade of rhymes including cemetery, identity and 'white supremacy.' It is simultaneously impressive and depressing.
At 31, Simbiatu Ajikawo should be on top of the world, yet we find her making the time-worn confession 'it's lonely at the top.' Lauded by critics and peers, she has imperious lyrical skills and an adventurous musical imagination. She has won Mercury and Brit Awards and shown herself to be a fine actor in Netflix UK crime drama Top Boy. This month, Simz will be the 30th curator of the Southbank Centre's prestigious Meltdown Festival.
It is odd then to note that she has never actually had a hit single, and only one of her albums has been top 5 in the UK (2021's masterful Sometimes I Might Be Introvert). She cancelled a US tour in 2022, sacked her long-serving manager (inspiring that year's darkly intense album No Thank You) and is currently suing her former producer, Dean 'Inflo' Cover, seeking £1.7 million in damages for unpaid loans (Cover's legal team have acknowledged the debt). It is honestly not hard to work out who is the intended subject of the most vitriolic put downs on Lotus, or why Simz might be experiencing a sense of crisis.
Jazz producer Miles Clinton James has taken over the role of chief collaborator, dialling up a jazziness that has long underpinned Simz' oeuvre, a development unlikely to correct her status as a no-hit wonder. Still, it sounds fantastic and an array of super talented voices (including Obongjayar, Michael Kiwanuka, Lydia Kitto, Miraa May and Moonchild Sanelly) all add distinctive flavours. Simz herself brings a greater range of tonal and emotional depths to her formerly sometimes robotic flow, which is a welcome development.
Lotus is an absorbing and powerfully honest album. But whilst the title flower symbolises rebirth and enlightenment in many cultures, here it seems more suggestive of something beautiful blooming in a very dark place indeed.
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