Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

London-based Little Simz is well on her way to becoming a global superstar, not only for her excellent music, but as an actress and cultural ambassador for her country. The scale of her ambitions is reflected in the huge sound of this album. Producer Inflo crafts beats like sleek skyscrapers, large edifices that inspire wonder, and Little Simz finds tricky, unexpected pockets within the structure. She is a truly superb technical rapper whose breath control, rhythm, and swag are unparalleled. This is a good example of an international hip-hop record that resonates with a domestic audience here in the US, perhaps because Simz’ mastery of the English language and the intricacies of rap technique are built to cross borders.

The Mercury Prize-winning fourth studio album from UK rap artist Little Simz is a big, theatrical affair, oscillating between huge, expansively orchestrated thematic tunes — "I Love You I Hate You," "Little Q," "Pt 2," "Gems - Interlude,” and the foundation-rattling “Standing Ovation,” the latter particularly embracing a grandiose, swaggering aesthetic, and slow-burn intimate R’n’B/hip hop hybrids like Cleo Sol-featuring “Women” and “I See You.” She also delivers plenty of razor-edged future-hop — “Rolling Stone," "Point and Kill," "Fear No Man” — at the centre of which of course is that voice; it can be strident or soft, often purring along at a calm, low volume while delivering perfectly cadenced high-speed syllables, dealing with subjects like her absent father, systemic racism or self-examination, with grace and class.