Last time Little Simz played at Glastonbury, she told a packed-out West Holts crowd that she’d see them next time at the Pyramid stage. It wasn’t an empty threat – over the last decade or so, she’s consistently outdone herself, releasing a string of acclaimed records, including the Mercury prize-winning Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, touring all over the world and staking herself as one of the UK’s strongest rappers both on home turf and further afield. Though she is not at the top of the bill tonight, she has indeed made it to the Pyramid, in the sweet spot before headliners Coldplay.
Despite the scatters of Coldplay T-shirts at the barrier, the packed-out crowd feels absolutely hers. You can tell that from the moment she cheekily addresses everyone with a simple “hello!” in her familiar north London intonation to rapturous applause. For the first few tracks – Silhouette, No Merci, I Love You I Hate You – she performs alone, skipping around the stage in her custom Ed Hardy two-piece, her name embroidered across the chest of her biker jacket. But she holds it down, spitting with impeccable poise and contorting her body with effortless steez over her signature backdrops of swelling strings and syncopated drums. “I need you to understand that you’re witnessing greatness,” she declares. “I say that not with arrogance but with confidence. It took me a while to get to the Pyramid but I’m finally here!”
