The O2 is not an intimate place. Comprising 20,000 seats, it is double the capacity of Alexandra Palace, and quadruple the capacity of O2 Brixton — two of the main venues of choice for large acts who want to keep it close-knit. But last night Islington-born rapper Little Simz made performing at the arena feel like a family affair.
That’s not to say there wasn’t some pageantry for Simz’s biggest London headline show yet. The show opened with a series of heartwarming clips of the rapper performing as a pre-teen, before actor Emma Corrin made a surprise appearance on stage to perform a poem about love. The lights went down, Simz emerged from the depths of the stage, and the crowd exploded.
Beginning with Thief, the Sopranos-esque track about a snakeoil salesman with a playground chorus, Simz’s skills as a performer were immediately clear. Slinking around in a caped parka and sunglasses, the entire arena was in the palm of her hand. She moved seamlessly into another newer track Flood, the lyrics listing her six commandments for how to survive in the music industry, or indeed life.
There’s a significance to both tracks, and to the album this tour is in honour of, Lotus. It's Simz’s first time working with a new producer following her legal dispute with longtime collaborator and master singer-songwriter Inflo (aka husband of Cleo Sol and one of the leaders of music project SAULT).
But Simz knows how it goes. “Before we do the new, we need to go back to the old,” she said, before the hollering vocals and drums of Two Worlds Apart took us back to her Sometimes I Might Be Introvert period, infecting the arena with a more relaxed groove. But the energy immediately returned with I Love You, I Hate You, followed by newer tracks Enough and Young.
The latter is Simz’s (wildly underrated) impersonation of a Mike Skinner-style naval gaze, and it helped to reinforce the diversity of her songwriting talents and performance chops. She followed up with fan favourite 101 FM, reaching into the crowd only to be met by hands surging towards her like a Messiah, as well as Venom, which increased the tempo to a fever pitch.
Next came a DJ interlude, courtesy of some decks that emerged from under the stage, which could have risked feeling stilted amongst all the rapping, but actually provided the perfect amuse-bouche in between servings of Simz. Anyone who wasn’t already out of their seat had no excuse with this section — the temperature of the stadium rose, the atmosphere became even more playful, and Simz’s smile could be surely seen all the way from row Z.
The DJ set interlude was followed by hit after hit, from Lion and Point and Kill to Selfish and Lonely, with Wretch 32 and Cashh making a surprise appearance for Blood. The mood changed to blissful with tracks Free and Blue, with Sampha popping up on the piano to assist. And if enlightenment is possible, it came during the final two moments, with Simz’s performances of Woman and Gorilla — arguably one of the best rap songs released in the last five years — closing out the show.
Leaving The O2, the mood was celebratory, even conspiratorial — not something you can typically say of an arena show. But Little Simz has a way of making you feel part of something, and tonight was no different.
Touring. littlesimz.com
