NO THANK YOU, Little Simz (7/10)

WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!! I was truly astonished. Little Simz is that bitch. Perhaps my favorite rapper alive right now??? Which I absolutely would not have said before I listened to this album even though I liked her older stuff. I was truly planning on giving this album a 9 or 10 during the first four songs. And then the album got so much worse?? I don't really know why the beats got so much worse after No Merci 😭 but it's okay because those first four are so fuckin good (except I had to downgrade the rating to a 7). This seems so obvious especially since I'm a poet, but before listening to this album I had never really considered rap as a vocal kind of percussion - working against the rhythms of the drums and the guitar with its own rhythms. But her rapping really made me realize that!!! Her vocal beats are just so fucking genius against the rest of the beats of the other instruments. Percussion is star here. And the incorporation of gospel and chorus on this album is chef's kiss. Like old kanye. Except for new. and not kanye. whew. those first four songs are utter perfection. Favorite tracks: Gorilla, Silhouette, No Merci