NO THANK YOU – Little Simz ★★★★

An album that was likely missed and that might be forgotten because it was released in late December, 2022, NO THANK YOU by British emcee Little Simz once again shows that she’s one of the best and smartest out there.

Always a good lyricist that is able to command your attention with her words and rhythmic proficiency, Little Simz has refined the sound she went for on Sometimes I Might Be Introvert in the best way possible. When that album came out in 2021, I thought it was interesting, but that some of the “artistic” elements like strings and percussion felt a bit too intentional to be actually impactful. What carried that album was the artist, not the sometimes overproduced music around her message.

Here, those extra elements are integrated much better, and never steal the spotlight. Things like the violin riffs or the inclusion of a choir or backing vocals aren’t exactly subtle, but they feel appropriately interspersed to bring depth and movement to the songs, matching Simz’ energy instead of trying to create energy on their own.

I really like the record as a whole, with some tracks like “Angels,” “Silhouette”, “No Merci” and ”Heart on Fire” standing out as early favorites. There isn’t one dynamic song that I keep coming back to, both a testament to the strength of the album front to back but a little bit disappointing compared to some of the absolute bangers like “Venom” and “Selfish” and “How Did You Get Here” that she’s put out in the past.