Bulldozing its way into life through bouts of depression and writer’s block, Little Simz’s new EP is finally here. Drop 6 – the sixth installment in a series of EPs Simz has released through the Age 101 label – is a defiant declaration of autonomy that uses the backdrop of enforced isolation to ruminate on her turbulent recent past.
Drop 6 – out now https://t.co/Xo665T7U2F pic.twitter.com/dYTAaRDi6s
— Little Simz (@LittleSimz) May 5, 2020
Simz (real name Simbiatu Ajikawo) first teased the project back in April when she asked if her Twitter followers would “care for a little EP from your girl?”. After littering several more hints on her social media, Simz then put out a statement in which she detailed the toll lockdown had taken on both her writing process and general wellbeing. Her mental state going into recording is reflected in the colour that pervades all of Jeremy Cole’s accompanying artwork: blue.
— Little Simz (@LittleSimz) April 24, 2020
On the fourth track “you should call mum” we’re thrust into the monotony that comes with living alone and recording in your living room. “Times we livin’ in don’t seem real/But it was never a fairytale to begin with/I just, bin my zoots and stay in tune/Cook my meals and make my tunes/Like there’s fuck else to do, ain’t that true?” she asks, exasperated. “Bored out of my mind/How many naps can I take?/How many songs can I write?” echoes a dry remark made in her recent statement: “there are only so many naps I can take in a day”.
an EP by me, to you. Drop 6 – May 6. Photo shot by me Artwork design @jeremyncole pic.twitter.com/fqXT6fGeNR — Little Simz (@LittleSimz) April 29, 2020
Social isolation alongside the pressure of following up 2019’s GREY Area no doubt contributed to the EP’s recording process. However, an unexpected (but nevertheless welcome) focus arrives with the revelation that Drop 6 is a break-up album in miniature. “If I give you my time and give you my space, know/That that shit’s not to waste, yo” goes the opening salvo, spat over breakbeats and a restless bassline, “If I give you my love and give you my truth/Know that that shit just for you”. Put into this new context, the loneliness starts to sting.
4 days to go . New music from ya girl on May 6. Save the date pic.twitter.com/fUs5E8rPzS
— Little Simz (@LittleSimz) May 2, 2020
Simz’s doesn’t spend too long reeling though; later in the track she boasts she’s “fuckboy resistant”, on “damn right” she warns that same “little fuckboy, don’t get on my nerves”, while “one life, might live” is an anthem of self-defining female love worthy of its subtle nod to Queen Bey: “Know your limit, know your worth, know personal space/Give me that, give me lemons, I’ll make lemonade”.
Simz may have a lot to celebrate given last year’s breakthrough success, but Drop 6 is by no means a victory lap. The braggadocious energy in cuts like “Boss” and “Offence” are swapped out in favour of a more subdued, downcast vocal delivery, as Simz herself told one fan, “it’s not GREY Area 2”. And it’s all the better for it. Stream the EP below:
