Simbiatu Ajikawo’s fifth appearance on The Only List That Matters™. Notable that she’s chosen to record this one with a different producer than Inflo, who has produced her last three albums to great critical acclaim. We’ll perhaps never know Simz’s underlying reason for choosing to switch up her sound at this point in her career…
Ah. Yeah that’ll be it.
Listen, I declined to comment on Wednesday’s inter-band drama because I don’t know the people involved and therefore can’t pick a side and call the other side complete cunts – which is what you’re legally required to do about every break-up, otherwise how will the couple know who gets to keep you as a friend? – and I’m definitely keeping out of this one. Mostly because I don’t understand how money works. You gave Inflo a million pounds on the first December after he said he’d pay you back on the fourth?? To cover a Sault concert?? That’s sketchy as all hell! And you say that Inflo’s lawyers acknowledge the debt but incorrectly frame it as being owed by Forever Living Originals and not Inflo himself and yeah I’m confused. The following statement also jumped out at me: “Simz then worked with Artists Without a Label (AWAL), a label services company for independent artists, owned by Sony“. So AWAL is this global recording business that offers deal structures for artists outside major record labels in order for them to retain the rights of their own music… and Sony just up and bought it in 2021. Fucking Monopoly Capitalism, man: not only do the record companies want to sign everyone to a label, they also want to own people who aren’t signed to a record label!
Anyway, I never really liked Inflo anyway, you were always my favourite, Simba, do you want to come to my house party this weekend? Obviously we won’t be inviting Inflo because that would just be awkward yeah? I’m not taking sides here, but us two were always way more closer anyway…
Only joking: How the fuck am I going to have a house party? Who am I going to invite, my Mum?
What is true is that I was never a massive fan of some of Inflo’s more cinematic and orchestral production. I was always conscious of how Simz’s world class delivery and vocal strength should always be the central feature of her music. What I saw as overtly dominating backing was the reason I didn’t love ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert‘ as much as… well… the rest of the fucking world, admittedly. However ugly the break has been – and I do feel breaking up with a close friend is a heart breaking part of life that sometimes isn’t given enough credos – I think the change in producers might do great things for Little Simz. Artistically, I think she’s at about the right point in her career for such a change up.
‘Lotus’ isn’t Simz’s best album, but it’s still pretty fucking great. Lyrically, it’s essentially a bracingly honest and completely bare therapy session as Simz attempts to deal with the emotional jolt she’s been forced to deal with in 2025, and also the debilitating paranoia that the experience has left her with. New producer Miles Clinton (“When you see the Rasta, you haffi salute dem“) sticks to generally sparse backings to the real star of the show, which like I said is a welcome step away from the overly dramatic. Clinton and Simz’s relationship isn’t quite all the way there yet, the beats sometimes come across a little too light when they should be Gorilla style ear pummellers, and I think ‘Grey Area‘ showed the potency of marrying Simz to beats that are both sparse but deadly. Overall though, it’s a mark of Simz’s talent that a record basically shwing two artists finding their feet together can be as thrilling as ‘Lotus’.
Oh, and I like the sound of that ‘Moonchild Sanelly’ person who features on ‘Flood’, maybe keep an eye on her.
2023 #13 (-9), 2021 #23, 2020 #65, 2019 #4
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn! Even those contrarian losers still gave it 82.
However, to make sure I’m fair and balanced:
True. Hard to get past this.
Necessary Evil 