Little Simz on lawsuit against producer Inflo: “I was really frustrated and hurt”

Little Simz has opened up about filing a lawsuit against her former producer Inflo, saying she was “really frustrated and hurt”.

Last month, it emerged that the UK rapper – real name Simbiatu Ajikawo – had filed the claim against Dean “Inflo” Cover, the founder of SAULT and the producer of multiple Simz albums, including 2019’s ‘GREY Area’, 2021’s Mercury winner ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’ and 2022’s ‘No Thank You’.

The suit saw Simz accuse Inflo of withholding loans she had made to him – to a total of £1.7million – for over a year, as well as claiming he did not properly account for funds provided by Sony to cover recording costs.

Among the allegations is the claim that Simz lent Inflo £1million to lock in the only SAULT show to date, which was held at Drumsheds in London. The suit asserts that the condition for the gig was that Inflo was to repay Simz by early December 2023, but it claims he failed to do so. Simz was therefore allegedly unable to pay her tax liabilities in full and received interest charges.

Inflo has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.

Now, in a new interview with Billboard, Simz has spoken for the first time about the case. She revealed that while working on the follow-up to ‘No Thank You’, she started and then abandoned four separate album projects, which she suggests were all being made alongside Inflo.

“They were great, but it’s more the situation of who I made them with,” Simz said about the scrapped albums. “In letting go of that relationship, I had to let go of that music… It’s like having a kid with someone. You might split with the person, but you don’t just stop loving the kid.”

Simz’ new album ’Lotus’ will be released on June 6, and has been previewed by the single ‘Flood’. According to Billboard, the record’s opener will also address the Inflo situation directly with the lyrics: “I’m lucky that I got out now / It’s a shame, I really feel sorry for your wife…This person I’ve known my whole life, coming like a devil in disguise”.

Speaking about how her motivations were influenced by the breakdown of her relationship with Inflo, she told Billboard: “I was really frustrated and hurt, and I wanted to scream. But it’s tricky starting off on that foot sometimes.”

Simz and Inflo met as children at St. Mary’s Youth Club in London, and Simz has been closely associated with SAULT’s work, appearing at the Drumshed show herself alongside Inflo’s wife Cleo Sol and Michael Kiwanuka.

Before the release of ‘Lotus’, Little Simz will be curating the 2025 edition of Meltdown Festival at London’s Southbank Centre, where she will be performing a one-off orchestral show. The Streets, Lola Young, Ghetts, Jon Batiste and Little Dragon’s Yukimi will also appear across the 11-day event.

She will also be playing her biggest ever headline shows this October, at Manchester’s Co-Op Live and London’s O2. Find any remaining tickets here.

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