Photo: Instagram
Little Simz performed her debut album in full last night (16 September) ahead of its release, and grime superstars Kano and Stormzy made a surprise appearance.
The up-and-coming rapper releases A Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons on Friday (18 September), and treated a packed-out Islington Academy crowd to a pitch-perfect, high-energy preview of every single track.
Arriving on stage in a flat cap, turtleneck and linen trousers, Simz wasted no time unleashing her silver-tongued magic on the rapt audience.
If you were in any doubt of Simz' lofty ambitions, the lyrical content of tracks such as 'The Lights' - which analyse the rewards and pitfalls of a level of fame that, in truth, she's not quite yet reached - will remove that doubt completely. To her, it is a matter of when, not if, she becomes a star.
And this playful, unquestioning optimism is infectious. Last night, it was difficult not to be won over when she stopped 'Dead Body' before it had properly begun to tell the crowd, "Sorry, it's just dawned on me that this is my fucking album launch."
Introducing album highlight 'God Bless Mary', she explained, "My next door neighbour is called Mary, and I know that she can hear my music every night, because the walls are paper thin and I can hear her conversations with her son. So I wrote her an apology song."
As the set came to a triumphant close, and fans began slowly heading for the exit, Simz reappeared onstage to perform a recently-completed remix of the brilliant 'Dead Body'. Partway through, to a deafening roar from the crowd, Stormzy appeared, shortly followed, to an even louder level of frenzy, by Kano.
Though Stormzy clearly had yet to learn his verse in the remix, and chose instead to stand soaking up the atmosphere as he sipped on a beer, Kano performed his section with startling skill.
Little Simz' debut album, A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons, is out this Friday (18 September).
