'Drop 6’- Little Simz: EP Review

2019 was the year that everything finally happened for Little Simz.

Despite having existed on the outskirts of the mainstream for a long time as

a staple feature for any artist looking to legitimise their discography, Simz had never quite perfected the formula for making it big. 2019, however, saw her return to acting as she joined the cast of Top Boy, propelling her fame and reach far beyond in-the-know UK rap fans and musicians, as well as the release of her third official album. Grey Area was her most impressive and fully realised work to date, winning her a Mercury Prize nomination, as well as her title as the inaugural winner of AVSJ's best album of the year (which is surely her biggest achievement yet.) I was at her last show of 2019 and there was a clear feeling of accomplishment; that she had proven to herself that all her hard work was worth it, and that in 2020 she would maintain the momentum and maybe, if she’s lucky, make herself the first ever 2-time winner of an AVSJ award.

Roll on 2020...at least the 21st century now has a clear bench mark rock bottom. Since lockdown I, like many people, have done a pretty good job of wasting time. 'Procrastinatory productivity' is a term I’ve coined for my ability to waste time doing things that are tricking me into thinking I’m doing something, but in fact serve no purpose other than exactly that. But while the world has been at a standstill and we have all been quietly staying away from one another, Simz has been back at work. On May 6th she dropped Drop 6 which, despite its name, is 5 tracks long, spanning about 12 minutes. An EP of songs entirely recorded in lockdown to help keep us going - and keep us talking about Little Simz. Unfortunately, despite my high hopes after Grey Area, I finished Drop 6 having enjoyed the project, but just wanting a little more from each track.

Owing to the stripped back nature of the EP, there’s not a huge amount to analyse in terms of depth or overall theme. This isn’t Grey Area mark 2 but instead a low key collection of tracks to distract you from a certain Miss Rona. With that in mind, I felt that many small errors in the project were forgivable, but I was somewhat frustrated by its unrealised potential and strange switches. The appropriately named first track, 'might bang, might not,' offers a clear example. The song starts the EP with one of her best and most relentless flows, her lyrics as clever as ever, and a raw but enjoyable bass led beat. Even the slightly shoddy finish to the track has an authenticity to the situation that is kind of charming. But the track is let down and ‘stops banging’ with the strange switch on the hook where Simz adopts a baby voice saying ‘This is for the now. This is for the now,’ easily misheard as ‘this is for your nan.’ This switch was a really strange choice musically, and entirely throws off the vibe of the track. I had a similar issue, albeit to a lesser extent, with the following track ‘one life might live,’ leaving me a little dissatisfied with each. With ‘damn right’ I felt the song never really got into its stride and on such a short project it seemed a little boring. ‘where’s my lighter’ again saw the return of another strange switch for the hook, rounding off the project with probably my least favourite song of the bunch.

The saving grace of the project, however, is 'you should call mum,' offering a more withdrawn style from Simz as she drops some good quarantine boredom bars, relatable in her articulation of how at times she’s trying to throw herself into productivity, while at other times this feels impossible and all she can do is cook and sleep. She also takes a moment here to reflect on her life up to this point, flagging her success and juxtaposing our non-stop lives a few months ago against the current climate of lockdown, portraying how the crisis has brought even someone on the pinnacle of global success down to the level of a regular citizen, as though she has started her career again. This was a highlight for me and is the most fully realised concept on the EP. 

​Overall, Drop 6 is a good listen that doesn’t quite hit the heights that it could, but still manages to offer a little introspection in difficult times. It has a few high points and I’m sure with time songs like ‘Damn Right’ will grow on me, but a few strange choices and a disappointing ending makes it 6.5/10.