the wrong way — you’re done. So now for her to be all over
national television, with people having all these opinions,
it’s scary. But I trust the confidence and grace in how she
carries herself.” Tola is enjoying her moment in the lime-
light. “This is her wildest dreams, you know what I mean?
This is mad — when she came from Nigeria to London in
her early twenties she definitely did not think this was
imaginable. She’s still gobsmacked.”
As for her dad, well, their strained relationship is heart-
breakingly examined in her song Love
You, Hate You. He left the family home
when she was 11 and her parents
divorced. We talk about forgiveness. She
tells me it has “freed up a lot of space.
I don’t walk around with the same chip
on my shoulder. I definitely feel lighter.
And in a place of understanding that
everyone comes with their shit, everyone
comes with their pain, their baggage,
their traumas, and trying to be sensitive
towards that.”
Despite the absence of her father, the
Ajikawo household was full to the brim
with people and what Simz calls an abundance of love.
Foster siblings came and went but most stayed in touch
and remained part of the family. “Fostering taught me that
love is not warranted. Not everyone is born into a family
that offers unconditional love or care. Because family,
that’s where you first learn about love.”
As she reveals in the song I See You, Simz is now in a
happy long-term relationship, though she prefers to keep
the details private. What she will tell me is: “I’m definitely
in love and enjoying all that comes with it and learning
about myself in the process — the good and the bad,
where I could be stubborn, where I could be kind and
nurturing or whatever it is. And same with my partner.”Her friends keep her grounded — a mix of people she
was at school with or grew up with in her area, along-
side fellow actors and musicians. She likes hosting
dinner parties at her home in north London. “I enjoy
bringing people together, and I enjoy it because I feel
like I know all my people would get on with each other.”
Emma Corrin (who played Princess Diana in The
Crown) is a recent addition to Simz’s coterie of bright
young things. She starred as the narrator on Sometimes
I Might Be Introvert and the commen-
tary, read by Corrin in full plummy
Diana mode, has been interpreted in
many ways — from Simz’s subcon-
scious mind to the voice of white privi-
lege. Corrin also featured in Little
Simz’s Brits performance and the pair
are now firm friends. But how did the
unlikely collaboration come about?
“When I first reached out I don’t even
know if Emma was familiar with my
music, but I thought we’re gonna try.
Emma came down to the studio one
afternoon. It was me and [the producer]
Inflo just chopping it up, talking. And I immediately felt
like we were going to be friends off this. We were actu-
ally going to build a friendship because the conversa-
tion was just so fluid.”
Simz has always made lists — 12 to 24 things she
wants to achieve each year. She has done it since she was
a child, writing notes on her phone or in her trusty note-
book. On this year’s list is to conquer America, where her
tour takes her next. “I think making these lists helps me
know where I’m going. I’m moving with intention.” ■Sometimes I Might Be Introvert is out now;
Top Boy is streaming on Netflix‘I’m definitely
in love and
enjoying all that
comes with it
and learning
about myself in
the process’
Left Little Simz on the red carpet at the Brits in
February, the Fashion Awards, 2019, and London Film
Festival, 2021. Below Simz and her mum, Tola, at the Brits22 • The Sunday Times Style