In 2023, Little Simz headlined London’s Alexandra Palace. In 2024, she made her debut on Glastonbury’s Pyramid stage, and last night (October 17), she played the biggest show of her life so far, in front of 20,000 people at the O2 Arena. “This is a homecoming show. The one I’ve been looking forward to the most and the one that means the most to me,” the 31-year-old rapper confessed.
The show began with a series of nostalgic home videos from Little Simz’ childhood, performing her own (impressive) bars before she’d even reached her teenage years. It was a touching tribute to her younger self, who no doubt, would be beyond belief to know that those videos would one day be projected around the O2. Then, to the crowd’s surprise, actor Emma Corrin rose out of the stage and performed a spoken word poem. It’s not the first time the pair have worked together – Corrin lent their voice to several tracks on Little Simz’s Mercury Prize-winning album, ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert‘; appeared on stage during the rapper’s 2022 Brits performance; and stood among close family to watch her Glastonbury gig from the side of the stage.
After Corrin’s poetic introduction, Little Simz emerged to the crashing sounds of ‘Thief’, the opening track from her latest album, ‘Lotus’. The stage itself was also revealed to be a giant lotus flower, a representation of her own personal journey and growth. Following the order of the album, ‘Thief’ transitioned into ‘Flood’, before Simz decided to take us back to 2021 with ‘Two Worlds Apart’. Each time she performs it, the bar “London-born estate girl to international sensation” feels more true.
It was a show full of surprises – from Emma Corrin to later appearances from Wretch 32, Cashh, Sampha and Deela. In the crowd, one of the biggest surprises was the volume of young boys (ten and eleven-year-olds) accompanied by their dads and rapping every word back at Little Simz. Behind me, a young boy chanted the words to “I Love You, I Hate You” so enthusiastically that he could’ve written it. The significance of Gen Alpha boys idolising a British female rapper goes without saying.
At her Ally Pally show back in 2023, Simz held a minute of silence for the people of Palestine. At the O2, she changed the lyrics in ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ to address the war on Gaza – “Parts of the world still living in a genocide”. There were moments of emotional honesty (particularly when she shared her struggle searching for creativity and questioning her tastes while making Lotus), and there were moments of ecstasy. Partway through the show, DJ decks appeared on stage and she turned the O2 into a rave, performing tracks from her 2024 dance album ‘Drop 7’.
With every new milestone, Simz manages to raise the bar higher, and her O2 homecoming was never going to disappoint. Wretch 32 appropriately renamed her “Big Simz” – this rapper certainly isn’t so little anymore.
