Little Simz cancels North American tour citing financial unviability

Little Simz is no longer playing shows in the US next month owing to the “huge deficit” of touring costs.

The UK rapper and actor announced the tour cancellation on Twitter Tuesday, 19th April, with a statement. “I take my live shows seriously and would only want to give you guys nothing but the best of me,” Simbiatu Ajikawo wrote. 

“Being an independent artist, I pay for everything encompassing my live performances out of my own pocket and touring the US for a month would leave me in a huge deficit. As much as this pains me to not see you at this time, I’m just not able to put myself through that mental stress.”

Little Simz was due to start her 11-stop North American tour in support of her fourth studio album, 2021’s ‘I Might Be Introvert’, in Portland, Oregon on 1st May. She was set to hit US cities like Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York, as well as a show in Toronto, Canada, which is presumably also on hold. 

Little Simz signed off her note with, “A message to all artists and creatives, know your worth and stick to your guns.”

This moment of financial transparency comes at a time when Little Simz’s music career is getting widespread recognition. She was crowned Best New Act at the 2022 BRIT Awards (despite releasing her first studio album in 2015, she only qualified for the category this year due to charting rules as ‘Sometimes I Must Be Introvert’ entered the Top 40 UK albums charts and peaked at No. 4) and her streaming numbers are soaring, with nearly 3 million monthly listeners on Spotify. This has prompted a wave of reaction criticising the current climate of the music streaming and live events industries, which the Guardian expands on here. 

Read Little Simz’s statement in full below, and revisit Neil Kulkarni’s 2019 interview with the artist.