little simz doesn’t care who she offends

“Me again,” says Little Simz, out the gates swinging on “Offence”, the new single that opens with a mean-mug-inducing bass riff which conjures the energy of chaos and rebellion to match the nondescript underground setting of the video.

“I’m Jay-Z on a bad day, Shakespeare on my worst days,” declares the London MC born Simbiatu Ajikawo, letting her flow set the tone, and the sonic landscape weave around her delivery. Simz takes the listener on a journey, a steady drumbeat taking over and dropping back to highlight the shifts — sometimes from melodic piano vignettes that ease in on their own; at others, from violins, falsetto flutes and cartoon-like sound bites.

“Offence” is a tapestry woven by the kind of MC that recognizes Hip-Hop as the experimenter’s medium. She’s Miss “Picasso with a pen,” delivering strength and freedom, mirrored by the emphatic movements of her underground posse.

Simz says it with her chest and she don’t care who she offends.