Lotus by Little Simz

Lotus, Little Simz's sixth album, arrived through AWAL on 6 June 2025, and it's a crowded, generous record: the guest list runs from Obongjayar, Moses Sumney and Sampha to Michael Kiwanuka, Wretch 32, Moonchild Sanelly, Miraa May and Yussef Dayes. At its core it's hip-hop, but Simz keeps pulling the frame wider, letting jazz, punk and funk bleed in until the edges blur, and "Flood", "Young" and "Free" each come at it from a different angle.

It follows No Thank You from 2022, the same year Sometimes I Might Be Introvert took the Mercury Prize and earned her the Brit for Best New Artist. The English rapper had nothing left to prove by then, and Lotus sounds like her stretching out anyway.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.