Concert Review: Little Simz at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater
English rapper Little Simz effortlessly infused creative energy into her dynamic setlist at the ‘Lotus’ tour on Nov. 11.
Written by Valeria Mota
Photo courtesy of Little Simz
Little Simz pushes the boundaries of rap, having done so for over 10 years. The English rapper, also known as Simbiatu "Simbi" Ajikawo, has released nine albums since 2014, each completely distinct in production but equally authentic. Her 2025 summer release, Lotus, has proven that she is still bursting with creative potential, with Pitchfork calling it a “thorough excavation of the graveyard of one’s ego and closest relationships.” Now, Ajikawo is taking the world by storm with her ‘Lotus’ world tour, showcasing her unique blend of experimental hip-hop and clever lyricism.
As soon as the clock struck 8:00 p.m. at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater, DJ ODD’s irreverent producer tag boomed from the speakers, taking concertgoers aback. The DJ quickly got to her turntable and introduced the night’s opening act, 21-year-old La Reezy. Born Khayree Salahuddin, the New Orleans native immediately launched into his rapid-fire flows over classy soulful production, proudly donning a black t-shirt reading “LAREEZYANA SHAKEDOWN.” For his 30-minute set, Salahuddin remained contagiously positive as he barreled through vulnerable tracks like “Metamorphosis” and “Have Mercy” and showed off his limber dance moves during “BOY WITH A DREAM” and “MOVE.” Sprinkling his sets with interactive call-and-responses, light choreography with ODD, and frequent thank yous, the crowd grew to love La Reezy’s youthful vigor, enthusiastically bouncing and waving their hands along to the artist’s tracks. As Salahuddin waved the crowd goodbye, audience members were left impressed by the young rapper’s “sick” performance despite the fact that the ‘Lotus’ tour was his first time touring ever.
Marijuana smoke floated through the air before the amphitheater lights turned off at 9:03 p.m. for the start of the show. Ajikawo’s inspirational monologue boomed over the speakers as the backing band mounted the stage and prepared to play their instruments. The motivating tone of the show immediately shifted as the moody guitar for “Thief” kicked in and the English rapper walked onto the stage touting a black bomber jacket, camo pants, black sunglasses, and a decorative scarf around her head. The crowd enthusiastically jumped along with the singer to the fiery chorus, and the track ended with a satisfying fill from supporting drummer Emanuel J. Burton. The immediate transition to the rhythmic “Flood” only ramped up the crowd’s energy as Ajikawo danced and her band deeply concentrated on executing the striking track.
Ajikawo thanked the crowd for being with her tonight and announced that they would perform more of Lotus throughout the show, but “to go forward [they] should go back a little bit” first, hinting at her older tracks. The crowd cheered as she effortlessly performed the mellow “Two Worlds Apart” and the emotionally intense “I Love You, I Hate You,” both from her sixth album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. The rapper shouted “I love you, Austin!”, to which an enthusiastic audience member screamed back, “She’s talking to me!”, as the latter track’s thundering horns concluded the song, receiving warm applause from the crowd.
“Enough’s” mischievous instrumentals commenced, but the artist stopped the beat and got the Austin crowd to make some noise before resuming the cut. The audience happily complied and enthusiastically chanted the song’s refrain, “Don’t make me pull the plug,” as radiant pink lights flashed from the stage. Ajikawo continued to sing the bitingly fun “Young,” appropriately bringing out a little girl from the crowd to perform with her on stage. The rapper happily held the little girl’s hand as they jumped together, letting the child sing part of the second verse: “I speak a lot of French / Oui, oui, oui,” delighting the crowd as both Ajikawo and the little girl continued jumping along to the track. Audience members exclaimed that the performance was “delicious” and “stunning,” and the artist promptly got the little girl back on stage to thank her for participating. The younger audience member bashfully smiled as the crowd applauded her cute performance before being hailed back to the crowd by security.
After the roaring applause for the rapper died down, steady drums for the introspective “Heart on Fire” kicked in. Ajikawo took off her sunglasses and scarf to perform the stirring track, staying exclusively on the mic stand to channel the song’s lyrical frustration. The crowd lightly bent their knees to the tune’s beat, but cheered pleasantly when the track abruptly transitioned to the opening track of Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, the aptly named “Introvert.” The rapper cleverly switched the lyric “Parts of the world still living in apartheid” to mention “genocide” instead, garnering snaps of respect from audience members. Though the rapper’s execution of the anthem evoked a slam poetry performance, Ajikawo still got the crowd to bump their hands up to the beat, using her authentic energy to successfully connect with concertgoers.
Ajikawo continued the concert by expressing her excitement about performing in Austin, and then surprised the audience by announcing that the following song would be “fun for the people in the back” before she skipped over the barricade into the crowd. As the band played the catchy, rhythmic beat of “101 FM,” Ajikawo took a lap around the amphitheater floor, with starstruck crowd members holding up their cell phones to record her every move. The artist’s trek did not stop her from flawlessly delivering her rapid rhymes, and she even took the time to high five the little girl who accompanied her performance during “Young” before she jumped back on the stage again.
Suddenly, green lights blared from the stage as the climbing string section from the rapper’s biggest hit, “Venom,” commenced. Ajikawo animatedly jumped during the song’s chorus and the crowd faithfully bounced along. She impressed the crowd with the rapid second verse and ramped up their energy for the cut’s last beat drop. The sinister yet empowering tune received thunderous applause from the audience, with crowd members exclaiming in disbelief that 40 minutes of the set had already passed.
Next, the rapper showed off her production ability in what she aptly referred to as a “detour” from the set. The supporting band left the stage, leaving Ajikawo alone with a Pioneer DJ set, which she expertly handled as she rapped songs from her 2024 release, DROP 7. As she transitioned through electronic tracks like “Mood Swings,” “Fever,” and “SOS,” Little Simz effortlessly converted the Stubb’s amphitheater into a rave, encouraging concertgoers to dance with each other while showing off her house-infused tribal beats. The DJ portion of the set concluded with Ajikawo’s band coming back on stage, taking a moment to dance to the rapper’s beat before taking their places to continue the performance.
“You still got energy?” Ajikawo asked the Stubb’s audience. “‘Cause I still got tons.” The crowd roared in approval before the band launched into the playfully soulful “Lion.” Orange lights dawned on the performers as the crowd faithfully chanted the confident outro at Ajikawo’s instruction: “We don't care for what they say / That's my superpower.” The crowd only had a small amount of time to clap before bassist Marla Kether took center stage for the next track. Kether smoothly plucked the strings of her Music Man Stingray bass to play the suave intro to “Point and Kill,” earning excited cheers of recognition from the crowd. Ajikawo instructed the crowd to passionately sing the tune’s catchy intro: “Right now,” she said, “It’s just you, Marla, and the bass.” After encouraging concertgoers to get louder, she hushed them to deliver the first line of the track over Kether’s bass before the rest of the band finally joined in, and the rapper danced during the entire track. The tune’s towering drums grew the concert’s vitality, and the track drew to a close to wild applause from the audience.
The performance winded down with the jazzy “Only” as cool blue lights accompanied the rapper’s intimate rapping. Crowd members appropriately held up heart signs during the song’s heartfelt refrain, “Only you in my heart.” The soulful track concluded with an intricate keyboard solo from supporting keyboardist Amane Suganami, earning approving cheers from the crowd. At the track’s end, a crowd member hollered a guttural “HELL YEAH!”, earning more “HELL YEAH”s in response. Ajikawo laughed at the screams, asking the audience to do it again, which the crowd happily did twice more.
Ajikawo carried on to perform the blues-influenced “Selfish,” which emphasized Kether’s consistently stellar bass lines over the blaring pink lights. Supporting guitarist Mark Mollison stepped to center stage for a complicated guitar solo. A concertgoer responded to the solo with another “HELL YEAH!” making the crowd chuckle.
Though the set expertly weaved in intimate moments and fun tunes, Little Simz took the time to deliver an inspiring monologue to the Austin crowd on creativity. Ajikawo shared her struggles with artistic insecurities while making Lotus, appreciating the creative people in the crowd who identified with feeling “bogged down” during the creative process. “It’s very easy to start something, and it’s very hard to finish it,” Ajikawo explained. “If there’s anyone in the audience that’s working on a project… I just want to encourage you to see it all the way through.” Concertgoers wildly cheered for her encouraging sentiments before she introduced the next song as making her feel “very, very exposed.” An appreciative crowd member thanked Ajikawo for “sharing her heart” as the rapper smoothed into the introspective “Lonely.” The crowd respectfully listened and nodded along as Ajikawo transmitted her creative angst into the mic. The thumping drums carried out the track’s conclusion, garnering the most sincere applause from the Austin crowd in the entire night.
The set carried on its reflective mood with the uplifting “Free,” starting with Ajikawo’s rapping the first verse acapella. Her slam-poetry style shined as the crowd shouted their approval to the intro’s powerful lines. As the track’s instrumentals flowed in, the musician encouraged the crowd to join her singing and shout “Free” to punctuate the end of the outro’s lines. The emotional tune’s conclusion received genuine wolf howls from the crowd, eliciting laughs from audience members all around. Ajikawo then brought out a thinline acoustic-electric guitar to play “Lotus” along with Mollison, later accompanied by a stellar drum solo from Burton that elicited another “HELL YEAH!” from a crowd member.
The English native continued to thank concertgoers for supporting her as Sugamani performed the heartfelt piano chords to “Miss Judged.” Crowd members expressed their love for the tune while Ajikawo passionately sang about her insecurities. The set took a turn with the next cut, the opulent “Woman,” which the rapper dedicated to “the girls.” The rapper artfully changed some lyrics to specifically shout out Austin women, receiving lively whoops from the women in the crowd. Ajikawo thanked the crowd one more time before she and her band left the stage, but the audience only waited a heartbeat before demanding one more song.
Soon enough, the Stubb’s crowd got what they wanted; the supporting band came back on stage, quickly preparing their instruments to play the triumphant overture to one of Little Simz’s standout tracks, “Gorilla.” Ajikowa burst back into the stage, only to abruptly wind down the track and get the Austin crowd to make some noise one last time. The rapper then resumed her performance, with the crowd passionately shouting “Rest in peace to Mac Miller” along with her. The exciting, chill-inducing closer ended with concertgoers waving their arms, an elaborate drum solo from Burton, and Ajikowa’s now signature “Gorilla” head bob. Through the thunderous cheers of approval, Little Simz thanked the crowd one last time before exiting the stage with her band, and the show wrapped up with a final “HELL YEAH!” from a random audience member.
Little Simz’s emotionally dynamic set not only showcased her seasoned showmanship, but also proved that there can be vibrancy in simplicity. Along with her effortlessly cool supporting band, the English rapper expertly balanced intimate moments with entertaining tunes, both of which highlighted her intelligent lyrics and spirited presence. Little Simz did not need elaborate lighting or props to emphasize her creative prowess; she just needed the raw, creative energy that has carried her to success throughout this past decade.