It was just over a year ago that ShaSimone made her head-turning appearance on Dave’s “Both Sides Of A Smile”, and since then, the East London rapper has maintained the hype with a steady stream of singles and freestyles, all building up to her debut EP, Simma Down.
We got the first taste of the EP in April when Sha dropped “Lock Off”, following it up with “Thug Affection” six weeks ago. In between those drops, she’s also made a point of stepping outside her usual sound, jumping on Lethal Bizzle’s “Dapper Dan (Remix)” and teaming up with Nia Archives, Cristale and Beenie Man on Clipz’s “No Time”.
Production comes from PBThePlug, Likkle Dotz, TK and 4Play, and the EP’s only guest features come from Alté champion BOJ and the elusive Avelino.
It’s a broad spread of sounds and a thorough cross-section of everything she’s about; influences of early 2000s US rap brush up against Afro grooves, and there’s even a splash of grimey drill on the closing track.
