Simbiatu "Simbi" Abisola Abiola Ajikawo (born 23 February 1994), better known by her stage name Little Simz, is a British rapper, singer and actress. She rose to prominence with the independent release of her first three albums; ''A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons'' (2015), ''Stillness in Wonderland'' (2016) and ''

Grey Area Grey area or gray area may refer to a fuzzy border between two states, such as legal and illegal actions. It may also refer to: * ''Grey Area'' (album), a 2019 album by Little Simz * Grey Area (gallery), an art project in Paris * ''Grey Area'' ...

'' (2019), the last of which was shortlisted for the

Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

and won the awards for Best Album at both the

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

and the

NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine ''NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of ...

. Her fourth album, ''

Sometimes I Might Be Introvert ''Sometimes I Might Be Introvert'' is the fourth studio album by British rapper Little Simz, released on 3 September 2021 by Age 101 Music and AWAL. The album succeeds the Mercury Prize-nominated album ''Grey Area'', released in 2019, and the ...

'' (2021) received widespread critical acclaim, with several publications deeming it the best album of 2021. It went on to win the 2022

. It also earned her the 2022 Brit Award for Best New Artist and the Libera Award for Best Hip-Hop/Rap Record.

Early life

Ajikawo was born in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, London, to

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

parents. She was raised on a council estate with two older sisters. Her mother was also a foster carer during her childhood. She is ethnically

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

. She studied at

Highbury Fields School Highbury Fields School (formerly Highbury Hill High School) is a secondary school for girls and coeducational sixth form, located next to Highbury Fields in the Highbury area of the London Borough of Islington, England. The School has specialism ...

in London and went on to attend St Mary's Youth Club in Upper Street, Islington, which pop stars

Leona Lewis Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...

and

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is a British singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the British television series ''The X Factor'' in 2008, and has been signed to Epic Records, RCA Records and Syc ...

also attended. Ajikawo has credited Mary's Youth Club influence on her career, describing it as "the place where it all began for me … a second home". Ajikawo later studied at

Westminster Kingsway College Westminster Kingsway College is a large college for further education in central London with centres in King's Cross in Camden, together with Victoria and Soho centres in Westminster. Founded in 2000 and having origins dating back to 1910, the ...

and The University of West London where she pursued her music career from there.

Career

Acting

Simz' acting career began with the role of Vicky in the BBC children's series ''Spirit Warriors'', originally broadcast in 2010, and as Meleka in the E4 television series, ''

Youngers ''Youngers'' is a British comedy drama series created by Benjamin Kuffuor and Levi David Addai. It began airing on E4 on 20 March 2013. It is produced by Big Talk Productions. The series has been picked up for international distribution by BB ...

''. She was narrator for the television series, ''Afrofuturism,'' and played Shelley in

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

's revival and third series of ''

Top Boy ''Top Boy'' is a British television crime drama series, created and written by Ronan Bennett. The series is set in the fictional Summerhouse estate in the London Borough of Hackney and focuses on two drug dealers Dushane ( Ashley Walters) and ...

'' which premiered in autumn 2019. She appeared as herself in the Sony/Marvel film '' Venom: Let There Be Carnage'', singing her song "Venom" in a nightclub.

Music

Little Simz - Openair Frauenfeld 2019 05

She describes her music as rap and experimental. Whilst she is closely affiliated with the grime genre, she has also pulled inspiration from other genres including reggae, blues, synth-rock and jazzy R&B. Simz has performed at Rising Tide, iluvlive, Industry Takeover (Urban Development)

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in L ...

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

and the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. She also performed at the BBC 1Xtra Prom 2015 at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, alongside a full orchestra led by

Jules Buckley Jules Buckley (born 8 January 1980) is an English conductor, composer, and arranger. Personal Buckley was born and grew up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in the UK. He is the son of Keith Buckley (a doctor) and Joan Buckley, and attended Ayle ...

. Simz can be heard on the ''Leave to Remain'' film soundtrack, performing the song "Leave It As That". In early 2013, she appeared on

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been cod ...

to discuss her performance at the

Hackney Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...

. Simz then went on to do a Maida Vale session for

Huw Stephens Huw Meredydd Stephens (born 25 May 1981) is a Welsh radio and television presenter, currently broadcasting on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru and BBC Radio 6 Music. Stephens founded the Sŵn music festival with John Rostron and the yearly s ...

. She also has received praise from

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his Progressive rap, progressive musical styles and Social consciousness, socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most infl ...

. On 16 December 2016 she released her second studio album ''Stillness in Wonderland''. It was inspired by

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

and supported by a comic book, art exhibition and festival. In 2017, she performed as the opening act for Gorillaz during their

Humanz Tour The Humanz Tour was a concert tour by the British alternative rock virtual band Gorillaz, in support of their fifth studio album '' Humanz''.Sources for shows in North America: * All except where noted: * 2nd San Francisco date: * Austin City ...

, and was the vocalist for the song "Garage Palace", featured on the Super Deluxe edition of their album ''

Humanz ''Humanz'' is the fifth studio album by British virtual band Gorillaz. It was released on 28 April 2017 in the United Kingdom by Parlophone and in the United States by Warner Bros. Records. The album was announced on the band's official Instagr ...

''. Simz releases her music on her own ''Age 101 Music'' record label with an exclusive distribution licensing arrangement with AWAL Recordings. On 6 September 2018, Simz and her label AGE 101 signed a worldwide deal with AWAL Recordings, after AWAL had distributed her debut album "A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons" in 2015. This deal was renewed on 18 June 2020. Her 2019 studio album ''

'' was released to critical success and was nominated for the ''

,'' and IMPALA's European Independent Album of the Year Award (2019). On 3 September 2021, she released her fourth studio album, ''

'' debuting at number 4 on the

UK album charts The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and winning BBC 6's Album of the Year. On 6 December 2022, Simz announced her upcoming fifth studio album, ''No Thank You,'' which was released on 12 December.

Personal life

Ajikawo lives in London. She is a childhood friend of actor

Fady Elsayed Fady Elsayed (born 15 September 1993) is a British-Egyptian actor, best known for his role as Ram Singh in the BBC's '' Doctor Who'' spin-off '' Class''. Early life Elsayed was born in 15 September 1993 at St Mary's Hospital in London, Elsayed ...

and actress

Letitia Wright Letitia Michelle Wright (born 31 October 1993) is a Guyanese-British actress. She began her career with guest roles in the television series '' Top Boy'', '' Coming Up'', '' Chasing Shadows'', ''Humans'', ''Doctor Who'', and '' Black Mirror''. ...

. Ajikawo and Wright have remained good friends and Ajikawo photographed Wright for the artwork for her single, "Selfish" in 2019. Whilst Ajikawo believes in God, she does not now follow any religion. In 2018 her friend, model Harry Uzoka, was murdered, inspiring her to write her song "Wounds".

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

As featured artist

Guest appearances

Notes

Tours

* AGE101 DROP THE WORLD (2015) * Welcome To Wonderland (2017–2018) * Grey Area Tour (2019) * Sometimes I Might Be Introvert (2021)

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Simz 1994 births Living people Black British women rappers Brit Award winners English women rappers English people of Nigerian descent Grime music artists People from Islington (district) Rappers from London English people of Yoruba descent Yoruba musicians