Little Simz' A Curious Case Of Trials + Persons Is The January Rap & Hip-Hop Album

In 2015, after a prolific run of four mixtapes and five E.P.’s, Little Simz released A Curious Tale Of Trials + Persons, her first full length album. She started rapping as a 9-year-old, and quickly developed the full sound that is found on A Curious Tale. A loose concept album that finds Simz imagining different outcomes for herself--from being famous to being pinned at home with a couple kids-- it’s all delivered with her complex, knotty, machine gun flow. It's self-released, and it’s on vinyl for the first time thanks to this release.

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We talked to Simz last month around the deluxe vinyl release of Stillness In Wonderland and here’s what Michael Penn II had to say:

“[Simz]has spent years calling herself a king. This confident proclamation may throw some when juxtaposed beside her chill demeanor but a leap into Little Simz will prove it, enveloping the listener in a massive catalog of intimate, soulful hip-hop detailing every conflict and contradiction of a young Londoner hellbent on being the best at everything she does, on her own terms. Bearing cosigns from the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Yasiin Bey, she remains a best kept secret for those in the know, but mostly she’s criminally-underrated, considering her output and execution alone.”

In a rap game that only allows one woman rapper to flourish at a time, Simz told us that she’s challenging the constricting parameters placed on female rappers.

“I feel like I’m here to go against that and challenge it a bit; to let the next young girl know that you haven’t gotta be a female shit. You haven’t gotta be a female rapper, you haven’t gotta be a female anything: you could just be you and you could be great at what you do. And still be elegant, and still be beautiful, and still be all these things.”

Simz is one of the most exciting young rappers, and especially one of the best British rappers of recent years, so we’re stoked to be presenting this album as our Record of the Month in Rap & Hip-Hop. You can listen to it below: