Saturday June 29, Pyramid Stage: Exuding warmth and taking obvious delight in the feat she's achieved, the 30-year-old proves she's more than ready for the top spot Emily Eavis might reckon “there aren’t a lot of new rock acts to choose from” in terms of headliners, but what about rap? There’s an obvious answer on the Pyramid Stage directly before Glastonbury stalwarts Coldplay do their thing . London rapper Little Simz , who looks awed at the enormous crowd throughout this extremely wholesome and inspiring show, could hardly be better placed for the job. The 30-year-old comes out in rectangular shades and a black-and-red biker jacket, appearing every inch the rock star.
She opens with the sweeping ‘Silhouette’, a powerful ode to self-actualisation that assumes even greater significance as she rightfully takes her place on one of the world’s most famous stages: “I don’t wanna live my life being a silhouette.” That track appeared on her surprise-release and comparatively low-key ‘NO THANK YOU’ , but the set thematically reflects the maximalism of 2021’s ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ . There’s a projection of a hand holding a flame in the shape of a human figure, and at one point the rapper is flanked by guitarists in leather trench coats and shades, as if we’re witnessing the world’s coolest reboot of The Matrix.
When Simz introduces one of those guitarists as mid-‘00s indie legend Jack Peñate , you just know that anything can happen .
