No Thank You

Across the pink-clouded groove of "Angel," Little Simz cuts a cautionary tale of music-industry greed and lessons learned during her rapid ascent within it. Released barely a year after her Mercury Prize-winner, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, No Thank You is another tightly focused effort that plays out on a slightly smaller scale but with equally satisfying results. It's the London rapper's third straight collaboration with producer Inflo (Sault, Michael Kiwanuka), who once again proves to be the perfect foil to her compact and confident rhymes. While there are remnants of Introvert's cinematic grandeur -- the dramatic brass and strings of "Silhouette" and "No Merci" -- No Thank You is ultimately a more stripped-down affair, leaving plenty of room for Simz's astute, rapid-fire incantations on mental health and societal frustration. Rarely has she sounded as sharp as on the thrilling "X" or the taut "Heart on Fire," two standouts among many. Amid the anger and disappointment, there is also a celebratory bent, especially on "Gorilla," a master class in witty bravado with an impossibly cool horn-blast fanfare and funky upright bassline. Like her two previous records with Inflo, the music feels fresh and organic, favoring natural drum sounds and classical instrumentation peppered with tasteful modern elements. On the more minimalist end, the drumless "Broken" explores collective trauma as Simz raps against a repeated choral mantra of "Feel you're broken and you don't exist/When you feel broken and you cannot fix it." Likewise, the album's closer, "Control," is essentially an introspective piano ballad that plays like a soulful coda to this incredible trio of albums she has somehow conjured out of a tumultuous four-year period. That Little Simz was able to deliver such a crafty set so soon after the career-making Introvert is impressive enough, but No Thank You stands out for its own merits.

Timothy Monger. Allmusic.com