A household name in the U.K., Little Simz staked her claim to the mainstream over the better part of the last decade. Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, her 2021 album and third set on AWAL, rose to #4. It won the Mercury Prize and inspired a BRIT Award for Best New Artist. The critically acclaimed artist is also the recipient of two Ivor Novellos and a pair of AIM Awards.
Simz recently mounted a 10-date North American tour (her first since 2019), which followed the release of her third album, 2022’s Top 40 No Thank You.
As AWAL President Paul Hitchman makes clear, it’s not only music that’s secured her well-deserved status; “Simz has become recognized as an actor, fashion icon, cultural spokesperson and entrepreneur as well as a songwriter, performer and producer,” he says. “She has always innovated and added new strings to her bow.”
As such, Hitchman sees “huge opportunity for her to grow her audience globally through a combination of new releases, touring and visual storytelling.” An example of the latter can be found in the interactive video Simz released to accompany her 2023 single “Gorilla,” directed by Dave Meyers (Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Missy Elliot).
Hitchman would also like to see her win a Grammy and in the U.K., he says, “another BRIT Award and #1 album are achievable targets,” adding, “Overall, we see no limit to what Simz can achieve.”
Her North American tour, which included a 10/3 stop at The Novo in Los Angeles, was rescheduled from 2022. The original outing was canceled for financial reasons. “I pay for everything encompassing my live performances out of my own pocket,” Simz said at the time, “and touring the U.S. for a month would leave me in a huge deficit.” She was able to make it out this year thanks in part to funding from AWAL, says Hitchman, noting that “audiences for her live performances in the U.S. continue to grow and grow.” At home, Simz played sold-out headlining shows 11/10 & 11 at London’s 10,500-capacity Alexandra Palace.
According to Hitchman, AWAL plans to make the fiercely independent Little Simz “one of the most successful, credible, respected and celebrated artists in the world while at the same time enabling her to retain ownership of her rights and control of her career.”
STATS
Streams: 600m+
Sales: 130k+ U.K. album sales
Charts: 2021 album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert hit #4
Awards: Mercury Prize, BRIT Award, two each Ivor Novellos and AIM Awards
Social media: 943k Instagram, 884k Spotify and 750k TikTok followers; 441k YouTube subscribers
Live: 60k+ tickets sold in 2023
TEAM
Management: Nathan Burke, Forever Living Originals
Label: Forever Living Originals/AWAL Recordings
Publishing: unpublished
Live: Lucy Dickins, James Simmons, James Rubin, Randall Uritsky, WME
