“Is the okra spicy?” Little Simz asks her seven-year-old nephew, who, along with Simz’s teenage niece, is sitting on the rooftop of Bussey Building overlooking the streets of Peckham in south London. Eating takeaway pounded yam, curried okra and rice, Simz’s nephew shakes his head and says no before exclaiming that the water Simz has just sipped will make the spice worse. “Don’t worry about me,” she retorts playfully, “I’m going to be alright.”
The weather is grey and muggy on this particular Friday. The rooftop is high enough that there’s a wind knocking the takeaway containers askew and the streets are noisy with the shouts of pedestrians as aeroplanes fly constantly above. Despite all of this, Simbiatu Ajikawo – Simbi to family and friends – is in high spirits. “It’s nice having my family around,” she says. “I think they’re jokes; they make me laugh, so it’s cool to have that energy around me.”