According to her own statements, the last time she performed was in a small room in Munich, and now Simbiatu Ajikawo, aka Little Simz, as the rapper is called, is playing in the sold-out Muffathalle. No one believed her to be so successful, she says. Ann-Kathrin Mittelstraß from Bayerischer Rundfunk had already predicted a great career for her at the On3 Festival in 2015. At the latest with their third studio album “Grey Area” that was actually documented. However, even then, no one suspected that just one album later, Little Simz would deliver a masterpiece with “Sometimes I Might Be Introvert”, which would make her the new Lauryn Hill.
Incidentally, the introversion mentioned in the album title is a bundling of energies inwards, which Little Simz now releases live in lyrics about the cousin who died in a knife fight, about the father who abandoned her when she was a child, and about corrupt politicians, racism and life as a woman in a misogynistic society. At the same time, Little Simz also encourages, dances gracefully across the stage and almost stands for overcoming some of the abuses she mentioned. It is musically underpinned by African jazz borrowings or by Smokey Robinson’s soul classic “The Agony And The Ecstacy”.
The fact that Little Simz is also able to implement their new album live in such an exciting way is also thanks to a new sound system in the Muffathalle, which carries the rich sound to the last rows without crushing the front audience with the corresponding volume. Thanks to the new technology, the transparent sound with its powerful basses is offered at a pleasant volume everywhere in the hall – which cannot be said of the shrill screams of some fans.