{"id":1830481,"date":"2026-03-17T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T09:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1830481"},"modified":"2026-03-17T12:00:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T09:00:25","slug":"the-limitless-little-simz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1830481","title":{"rendered":"The Limitless Little Simz"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"LOh page-454954441\">\n<div class=\"cCV\">\n<div class=\"sWr KwQ\">\n<div class=\"SIZ Nx0 M2A\">\n<div class=\"seY o-J\">\n<div class=\"jIi oZY\">\n<p class=\"Stm\">It Girl<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"yHO m_R vCz MnQ\">The Limitless Little Simz<\/h1>\n<p><span class=\"pQX\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"LD0 Cwn\">\n<p>The prolific rapper, actor, and fashion muse believes in creativity without labels or constraints. She\u2019d rather show you than explain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"mLI U4m\">\n<address class=\"Fdy\">by <span>Shaad D&#8217;Souza<\/span><\/address>\n<div class=\"DHw\">\n<div><time datetime=\"2026-03-17T12:00:25.103Z\">24 minutes ago<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"aSs\">\n<div class=\"vmZ DwG Eir\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/3\/13\/d15ccd4e\/ek_print8_noflash_v1_hires_rgb-2.jpg?w=414&amp;h=620&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=focalpoint&amp;fp-x=0.4735&amp;fp-y=0.5101&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"LSz EdX\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"vmZ eqj OtB\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/3\/10\/716676b5\/it-girl-2025_grass-green.png?w=120&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"QVH jU-\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"kCE\">\n<div data-adroot=\"true\" class=\"fxL Afg\">\n<p>Little Simz, like any self-respecting, ambitious artist, feels like she\u2019s \u201cstill scraping the surface\u201d of what she can achieve. But don\u2019t expect her to tell you where she wants to go next.<\/p>\n<p>When I ask the 32-year-old about her goals, she simply looks at me and smiles \u2014 the kind of tight, closed-mouth smile of someone keeping their cards close to their chest. \u201cI have loads of goals,\u201d she says slowly, before another smile, another pause. \u201cI\u2019m very private about them. Yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That self-protective streak has worked so far for Simz, the rapper born Simbiatu Ajikawo, who, in 2025, posted her strongest year yet. Her sixth studio album, <em>Lotus<\/em>, which outfitted her scorched-earth lyrics in rock and post-punk influences, peaked at No. 3 on the U.K. charts \u2014 a career best. She then backed it up with shows at Manchester\u2019s Co-op Live and London\u2019s O2 Arena, which seat around 20,000 people each and marked her largest shows to date. Playing the O2 \u2014 one of the most iconic venues in London \u2014 is a career milestone for anyone; Simz, who will play Coachella and other festivals before opening for Gorillaz in North America this fall, is willing to admit that it was once one of those goals she keeps so closely guarded.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 nbP\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:125%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/3\/13\/0a84e4f9\/nylon_it-girl_little-simz_credit-elliot.jpg?w=268&amp;h=335&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 VBN\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello clothing <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI always thought, \u2018I\u2019mma play this venue one day, and I\u2019mma headline it, and when I do, it\u2019s gonna be <em>up<\/em>,\u2019\u201d she recalls. Simz, sitting across from me in the corner of a noisy photo studio in a navy hoodie and navy anorak, still made up luminously from her NYLON shoot, grins as she talks about the experience. \u201cIt\u2019s everything you think, really. It\u2019s nuts: You go in, very big room, and at soundcheck you think\u2026 <em>Sh*t<\/em>. This whole floor is gonna be filled. As much as it\u2019s mad, whether it\u2019s 100 people or 20,000 people, I\u2019m still so particular about my show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simz and I are meeting in early March, a couple of months after she posted on Instagram about wanting more \u201cbalance\u201d from 2026. You can understand the impulse: Since she began releasing mixtapes in 2010, when she was 16, Simz has been going nonstop, releasing a swath of albums and EPs; touring frequently; working with high-fashion houses like Miu Miu and Burberry; and acting in projects like <em>Top Boy<\/em> (the Drake-produced Netflix revival of the British crime drama) and <em>Steve<\/em> (the 2025 Netflix film starring Cillian Murphy). Her career went stratospheric in 2021, when her Mercury Prize-winning album <em>Sometimes I Might Be Introvert<\/em> topped numerous year-end lists, followed quickly by 2022\u2019s <em>No Thank You,<\/em> a piquant critique of the music industry. <em>Lotus<\/em> draws from yet another painful experience \u2014 it\u2019s largely a pummeling account of her falling out with former friend and longtime producer Inflo \u2014 but clear-eyed intensity firmly cemented Simz as one of the U.K.\u2019s most formidable working artists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the tap\u2019s flowing, I think you\u2019ve got to just keep that momentum, because once you stop, it\u2019s really hard to get back into it,\u201d she says of her prolific clip. Making music \u201cgenuinely fuels me. It genuinely is my therapy. It\u2019s how I like to process my thoughts and feelings, so I always make sure I give time to that.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:124.9903%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/3\/13\/62ce5dfd\/ek_print5_2_v1_hires_rgb.jpg?w=375&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Tolu Coker clothing; Miista shoes<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s been this way since she was a teenager growing up in North London. She started rapping at Mary\u2019s Youth Club \u2014 a community center where kids can perform, play sports, and attend enrichment programs \u2014 and began recording at home with a bare-bones studio setup. She still remembers the first time she stepped onstage, in the sports hall at St Mary\u2019s, to perform early songs of hers with titles like \u201cAchieve, Achieve, Achieve\u201d and \u201cR.E.S.P.E.C.T., Respect That.\u201d \u201cThose were my hits back in the day, them sh*ts were <em>rocking<\/em>,\u201d she says, laughing. \u201cI just remember feeling really embraced and really supported. I already had people on my side backing it, who believed in me and wanted to see me go far.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"rs0 Dhu\"><p>\u201cIt\u2019s not normal to have so much attention on you, so many eyes on you, especially at a young age. That can be very distorting.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:124.9953%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/3\/13\/2efdf38a\/ek_print3-2_v2_hires_rgb.jpg?w=375&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Willy Chavarria clothing; Ami Paris scarf; CC-Steding ring; Burberry boots<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Simz still feels a connection to her DIY past, in part because she hasn\u2019t really upgraded her home recording kit. \u201cIt\u2019s the same setup I had when I was 17 \u2014 a pair of monitors [from the] same brand, laptop, interface, mic. I don\u2019t really need much, as long as I can get out what I\u2019m trying to say, and then I can take it into a studio.\u201d But maintaining a connection to her younger self is also an essential part of her process. \u201cSometimes, when I\u2019m starting a new project, I might listen to an old tape on SoundCloud or something, just to understand who I am,\u201d she says. \u201cLife goes so fast, and these albums are like my journals, you know? It\u2019s like flicking through old photos or something and you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, I remember that top I used to wear.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:124.9847%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/3\/13\/4727635c\/ek_print6_v1_hires_rgb.jpg?w=375&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Willy Chavarria clothing;  Ami Paris scarf; Octi ring; Talent\u2019s own bracelet <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"rs0 Dhu\"><p>\u201cIt does get hard to be optimistic about the future when there\u2019s a lot of sh*t going on in the world. You feel like: <em>This is f*cked.<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s all in service, Simz says, of protecting her creative spirit in an industry that works hard to take it from you, and which often prizes statistics and sales achievements over originality. \u201cMate, you will lose yourself and you will find yourself and you will lose yourself and you will find yourself, lose yourself, find yourself \u2014 it\u2019s just what it is, do you know what I mean?\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not normal to have so much attention on you, so many eyes on you, especially sometimes at a young age. That can be very distorting. So for me, it\u2019s nice to have reminders of like, \u2018Nah, this is who I am.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:124.9948%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/3\/13\/839182c8\/ek_print4_v2_hires_rgb.jpg?w=375&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Tolu Coker clothing; CC-Steding rings (right hand); Octi ring (left hand); Miista shoes<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>And sometimes, she says, \u201cyou got to step away from it\u201d entirely. Earlier this year, she took a trip to Sri Lanka, something she\u2019s always wanted to do, with her mom and a close friend. \u201cI travel so much for work, and I\u2019m grateful I get to see the world and all this beauty, but sometimes I don\u2019t get to take in places as much as I would like to,\u201d she says. Volunteering and teaching there with the humanitarian charity Foundation of Goodness provided another kind of reset. \u201cIt does get hard to be optimistic about [the future] when you\u2019re a bit distracted, when there\u2019s a lot of sh*t going on in the world that you feel like\u2026 <em>this is f*cked<\/em>,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I\u2019ve found a way to try and keep the hope and keep the faith, and do what I can within my power.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"rs0 Dhu\"><p>\u201cThese albums are like my journals, like flicking through old photos. You\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, I remember that top I used to wear.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:124.9803%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/3\/13\/5e1fbd7d\/ek_print2-3_v4_hires_rgb.jpg?w=375&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello clothing<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Her pace hasn\u2019t slowed <em>that<\/em> much. She\u2019s already plotting new music \u2014 \u201cI was thinking about the follow-up to <em>Lotus <\/em>when I was making it\u201d \u2014 though she offers no hints; she doesn\u2019t want to promise she\u2019ll go in one direction in case she decides to veer in another. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be married to anything,\u201d she says. \u201cI want to be loose, and I think that\u2019s more exciting to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s equally coy about whether she\u2019ll delve further into film and TV. When I ask if she has aspirations toward screenwriting or directing, she gives me another tight-lipped smile. \u201cIf you\u2019re in a creative field, it\u2019s very easy for you to want to lean into different mediums, you know?\u201d she says. \u201cWith a lot of my peers, people that I really respect within music, within art, within fashion, it\u2019s very normal. It\u2019s very normal to want to be a multidisciplinary artist. So whichever medium allows me to tell my story, I\u2019m down.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR CEt\">\n<figure class=\"Qf5 E1M\">\n<div style=\"padding-top:124.9949%\" class=\"vmZ F8Y ap2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imgix.bustle.com\/uploads\/image\/2026\/3\/13\/872bf6c1\/ek_print7_nofl_v1_hires_rgb.jpg?w=375&amp;h=469&amp;fit=crop&amp;crop=faces&amp;dpr=2\" alt class=\"EdX\"><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Yte pt7 okb\"><figcaption class=\"rv9 TrI\">Willy Chavarria clothing; Ami Paris scarf<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ultimately, what she wants next is very simple: no limitations. That\u2019s how she felt on <em>Lotus<\/em>, when she experimented with new genres without any concern for what fans or critics might think \u2014 and listeners were all the better for it. \u201cWhen I look back at my catalogue, I\u2019ll be like, \u2018That\u2019s so sick, you done that, that\u2019s so hard!\u2019 You know? You done what you wanted to do, and that\u2019s always gonna exist in the world, and you wasn\u2019t afraid,\u201d she says. \u201cMaybe someone else will feel like they can cross-pollinate genres in their own way and their own style, and not feel limited, like, \u2018You can\u2019t rap a 16-bar over classical.\u2019 Because who\u2019s done that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut why not? You just try sh*t and then it might actually work,\u201d she says, beaming. \u201cIt\u2019s art!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Top Image credit: Willy Chavarria clothing;  Ami Paris scarf; CC-Steding ring (right hand); Octi ring (left hand); Burberry boots<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"sWr iGR\">\n<div class=\"Hvl Qpa\">\n<div class=\"F2P\">\n<p><em>Photographer: Elliot James Kennedy<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Stylist: Lewis Munro<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Writer: Shaad D&#8217;Souza<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Editor-in-Chief: Lauren McCarthy<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Creative Director: Karen Hibbert<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Hair: Chantelle Fuller<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Makeup: Nibras Alwasiti<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Video: Celina Khorma<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Photo Director: Jackie Ladner<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Production: Lock Studios<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Fashion Market Director: Jennifer Yee<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Fashion: Stephanie Sanchez, Ashirah Curry, Noelia Rojas-West<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Features Director: Nolan Feeney<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Social Director: Charlie Mock<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Talent Bookings: Special Projects<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"BdA\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It Girl The Limitless Little Simz The prolific rapper, actor, and fashion muse believes in creativity without labels or constraints. She\u2019d rather show you than explain. by Shaad D&#8217;Souza 24 minutes ago Little Simz, like any self-respecting, ambitious artist, feels like she\u2019s \u201cstill scraping the surface\u201d of what she can achieve. But don\u2019t expect her [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,256],"class_list":["post-1830481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nylon-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1830481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830481\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1830481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1830481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1830481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}