Little Simz at Brighton Dome

Over the last couple of years, Little Simz has been going from strength to strength. Since 2019, the Islington artist – whose real name is Simbiatu Abisola Abiola Ajikawo – has released two critically acclaimed albums and EP, as well as giving a standout acting performance in Netflix’s revival of the British crime drama – Top Boy. Simz has come a long way from when she signed her first record deal with AGE: 101 Music in 2015. And when she took to the Brighton Dome stage on Friday night (December 10), there was a real sense that she belonged with the big hitters sitting at British rap’s top table. The performance opened with the first single of Simz's new record, Sometimes I Might be Introvert (SIMB), which was released back in April this year. The dramatic, bond-like song 'Introvert' announced the rapper’s arrival, and the audience was hooked instantly by Ajikawo and her band’s stage presence. Two more songs from the latest album followed, "Two Worlds Apart" and "I Love You, I Hate You”. Both tracks demonstrated Little Simz development as an artist as they blended elements of soul, grime and hip-hop to fit around her naturally punchy lyrical flow. It is clear the SIMB album has been received positively by the fans in attendance, as Simz gets a very vocal call and response from the crowd on all three opening tracks of the set. As well as playing 15 songs off her most recent album, Ajikawo dove into her back catalogue with high energy tracks like "Boss", "one life, might live" and "God Bless Mary”. All three songs acted as musical bookmarks in Simz's growth as an artist, as the fans became increasingly engaged with the performance. The peak of the show came when Ajikawo dropped the highly-popular singles off her third album Grey Area – “101 FM" and "Selfish" – which were met with the biggest crowd response of the night, getting the people at the back of the room off their seats and joining in with the sing-along choruses and lyrical hooks. One of the criticisms of this show was that its one hour and 45-minute running time felt unnecessarily long. Simz’s heavy reliance on her latest album meant there were songs on the set list which lacked the energy or connection with the audience. “Wings", "Miss Understood" and "Standing Ovation" created portions of the show that felt empty and disconnected from the rest of the performance, disrupting any previous momentum in the show. There was also a moment of concern when a fan collapsed towards the end of the show. The performance was halted for a couple of minutes while the person was taken out from the building and attended to by medical professionals. The concert restarted once news came through the fan was okay, and the funky afrobeats on "Point and Kill" got Simz, her band and the whole audience dancing in unison. Throughout the show, Ajikawo took to the microphone to tell the crowd how much she appreciated being in Brighton and told all in attendance how grateful she was for their continued support. These sermons on the mic symbolised the whole show, as Simz played songs that showed her continued development as an the artist, and the admiration demonstrated by the Brighton Dome audience to all aspects of her work made this a poignant, fun show of one the UK’s fastest rising musical stars. READ MORE: A new song for East Sussex celebrates power of music to bring us together Sleaford Mods at Brighton Dome - review

Little Simz at Brighton Dome – Review