Dissect - MX1E5 - "Introvert" by Little Simz

Episode Date: May 2, 2023

Our "Lyrical Masters" mixtape series continues with a line by line dissection of "Introvert" by Little Simz from her 2021 album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. Follow @dissectpodcast on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Host/Writer/EP: Cole Cuchna Producer: Justin Sayles Audio Editing: Kevin Pooler Theme Music: Birocratic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When writing her 2021 album, Sometimes I Might Be introvert. Little Sims would leave the recording studio in the middle of a session to write lyrics alone inside her car. And this wasn't any recording studio, mind you. It was the world famous Abbey Road studio in London, England. You know, the one the Beatles made famous, the one since grace by Pink Floyd, Rush, Radiohead, Kanye West,

and so many others. Why would Little Sims prefer her car to this iconic, seemingly inspiring studio environment? Here she is explaining herself on the, the late late show with James Corden. Walking into that space is like there's so much history behind it, obviously with the Beatles and whatnot. And I found myself like sometimes sitting in a control room

and just watching this 40-piece orchestra play my music. And I'd kind of sneak out and go to my car and write it. Because that's like growing up and when I first started, I'd write in my car in my bedroom and I prefer to be in those spaces just so I can focus on that. And then I'd go back in and report. Wow. Sims' preference for private secluded spaces seems,

incredibly fitting for an album titled Sometimes I Might Be Introvert. An album whose sound we might suspect would mirror this preference for intimacy. Yet in another counterintuitive surprise, the album's opener introvert is a song that sounds anything but intimate. This grand cinematic soundscape is certainly a puzzling way to start a song and album that centers Sims' introversion. It naturally begs the question, why? Well, let's listen and find out. From Spotify, this is Dysect. long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes.

For the fifth track in our lyrical master's mixtape, we're dissecting Little Sims' 2021 track, Introvert. I'm your host, Cole Kushner. Like every song on Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, introvert was produced by Little Sims' long-time friend in collaborator Inflow. The track begins with a military-style snare drumline tapping out stoic mechanical triplets, which are soon joined by regal fanfare from a horn section. Because of hip-hop's long tradition of sampling, we might suspect this opening music to be an excerpt of some pre-existing film score or symphony,

but it's actually an entirely original composition played by a 40-piece orchestra. This military-inspired snare drum pattern immediately evokes a battlefield. While today military musical ensembles are mostly tradition, they actually developed with an extremely important logistical function and are credited with forever altering the possibilities of warfare. Marching in lockstep to the beat of a drum allowed large formations of soldiers on the battlefield to perform linear tactics in unison, making them more efficient and safe. Different snare drum patterns were also used to communicate specific maneuvers across the battlefield. Following the snare introduction, a horn section enters continuing the martial or military music instrumentation. These horns growl out a descending three-note fanfare, sustaining a low A before climbing back up the same three notes and sustaining a C-sharp.

This eventually transforms into a call and response as a higher two-note motif interjects in between the three-note motif. This long sustained note, a D-sharp, is harmonically at odds with the sustained notes of the three-note motif. Thus, when the sustained notes of each motif is heard together, musical tension is created, as we hear a dissonant major second, followed by an extremely dissonant tritone. Let's hear this passage again, and I'll point out these sustained dissonant intervals as they occur. Major second. Now I draw your attention to these sustained dissonances because they contribute to the emotional resonance of this opening musical passage. On one hand, the military-inspired instrumentation provides cinematic regaless and grandeur,

while the dissonance of the notes played creates tension, immediacy, and darkness. Together, they appropriately score the social and political unrest of 2020 and 2021. A historically dark time in which the stakes felt incredibly high, the tension in the air was palpable, and actual military units were deployed at protests around the globe. Also, military fanfares traditionally announced the arrival of an important figure or leader, which makes for a perfect introduction for the arrival of the Queen MC herself, Little Sims. Before Sims enters the track, the horn and snare drums give way to a driving beat,

where we hear singer Cleo Sol say, there's a war, there's a war, further cementing the song's militaristic character. Simson enters the track rapping, The Kingdoms on Fire, the Blood of a Young Messiah. Immediately she adds vivid imagery to the already cinematic landscape. With Sims hailing from England, the kingdom here likely refers to the United Kingdom. Outside the United States, the UK had the largest Black Lives Matter protests in the world in 2020. While the murder of George Floyd in America added fuel to the fire, U.K.C. citizens had already been galvanized by a death in their own country,

Beli Munginka, a black transport worker who died from COVID-19 after saying a white man spit on her in a racist attack at work. Protests began after police closed the case citing lack of evidence, but after George Floyd's death, these protests quickly escalated into an estimated 20,000-person demonstration in the streets of London, where some protesters tore down and vandalized statues of slave traders and historic political leaders. In this way, the kingdom was both literally and figuratively. figuratively on fire, the destruction at protest by enraged citizens attempting to purge their country of racism. Saying the blood of a young Messiah borrows biblical imagery as a way of acknowledging the deaths of

young black men and women that spark global protests. Within Christianity, the blood of the Messiah or Jesus is one of the more powerful symbols in the Bible, representing redemption, sacrifice, purification, and more. In this way, perhaps the hope is that the deaths of these young black men and women will not be in vain, that while extremely tragic, they will at least be the same, sacrifice that inspires the societal purification necessary for real change, leaning to less tragedy for future generations. The religious motif continues with the following line. I see sinners in a church, I see sinners in a church.

While various religious groups and churches have been historically no stranger to crime, corruption, or mass atrocities, it seems Sims might be using the church as a symbol of power, noting how the biggest sins are often committed by those who are supposed to uphold the highest moral standards, perhaps most relevant to the 2020 protest. law enforcement or police officers are responsible for upholding our laws, making their own violations of the law exponentially more egregious, especially when their sins are racially motivated and uphold a long history of systemic oppression. When looking at these first two bars together,

we see that Sims has composed them based on contradicting pairs. A kingdom, a symbol of power and strength, is on fire. A Messiah, a symbol of hope and salvation, has been killed. And the church, a symbol of purity and spirituality, is full of sinners. Together, the opening couplet perfectly captures the unsettling feeling of 2020, living in a world that seemed to be completely upside down during a time when the stakes felt higher than ever. With the third bar of the song, Sims voices the album title, saying, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.

It's a somewhat unexpected pivot inward, a sharp contrast with the wide-reaching scope of the opening two lines. But this turn seems to reflect Sims' actual reaction to the global chaos of 2020, as she told quiet and loud quote, when all that stuff was going on, I wasn't really on social media. I needed to take a step back, because I'm someone that feels things very intensely. I take on a lot, and when everyone is trauma bonding and coming with all their pain and hurt into one area, it's just a bit overwhelming for me. And I just needed to take time to work out how I actually feel, because not all black people feel the same or think the same, unquote. The introvert line also resonates universally, as the 2020 protests were occurring amid a global pandemic in which billions of people were

quarantined in their homes, a kind of forced mass introversion. Like many of us, Sims took this opportunity to contemplate, saying, quote, I live by myself, I spent the quarantine time doing what everyone was doing, really, just reflecting, unquote. In this way, the opening two lines paired with this line about introversion resembles the global dichotomy of massive public demonstrations and unrest, occurring simultaneously with a period of global introversion. Still, with this being the title of the album, we understand it has implications beyond this song, representing the project's central motif of self-discovery and reflection. Sims told the line of best fit, quote,

introvert is essentially me finding power within my introversion, turning inwards and finding peace within myself amongst all the chaos that's happening in the world, just trying to center myself, ground myself, and ask myself real and honest questions in order to grow. I'm still learning Simby. I know who I am, but I'm constantly discovering other things that I'm into, unquote. Here Sims refers to herself as Simby,

an abbreviation of her full name Simbiatu, and it's here we realize sometimes I might be introvert is actually an acronym for Simbi, S-I-M-B-I. Simby then continues, there's a war inside. I hear battle cries. Here she extends the conflict and war motif, only now she refers to a battle within, which is motivocally tied to the previous introvert line. Cleverly, this bar contains an internal rhyme with inside and cries. There's literally a rhyme inside the line about inside. Having already established global unrest in lines one and two,

we can also hear these lines as a war inside the walls of one's own country, a civil war, while battle cries could be the various chance heard during protests around the world. There's a war inside. I hear battle cries. Mother's burying sons. Young boys playing with guns. The devil's a liar. Fulfill your wildest desires. Now I don't want to be the one to doctor this, but if you can't feel pain, then you can't feel the opposite. The fight between the gang and gangs, a fight you'll never win. I study humans that makes me an anthropologist. I'm not into politics, but I know it's dark times, parts of the world still living in apartheid.

But if I don't take this witness flight, that's career suicide, though I should have been a friend when your grandma died. I see the illness in my arm laying in her bed, I see her soul rising as a body gets closer to death. Sims continues, mothers bearing sons, young boys playing with guns. It's a powerful couplet of images, continuing the contradicting pairs of the verses opening minds. No doubt referring to the victims of fatal acts of police brutality, mothers bearers, bearing sons as a statement inherently implies tragedy, as a son should typically outlive his mother. Meanwhile, young boys playing with guns seems open to numerous interpretations. It could be a jab at law enforcement, likening them to little kids with guns who use them irresponsibly, resulting in

unwarranted deaths. It could also reference the military who send young men to war, which results in mothers bearing their sons. Next we get an extension of the religious symbols, as Sims wraps, The Devil is a liar, fulfill your wildest desires. Within the car, context of the verse so far, it seems she's describing the tragedies as the devil's doing, using the devil's historic association with temptation as a means of convincing fallible humans to do sinful things. She then says, now I don't want to be the one to doctor this, but if you can't feel pain, then you can't feel the opposite. The wordplay is centered on a doctor prescribing a medical solution to a problem. Sims at first is hesitant to suggest a remedy to the world's issues,

which appears to reflect her mentality during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, as she told NME quote, people expect black people to have all the answers, and there's still so much that even me, myself, I don't know. I'm still trying to educate myself and learn. Conversations are important, and people being honest about not knowing shit. You haven't got to act like you have all the answers, unquote. Despite her hesitance, Sims does offer some words of wisdom to consider, that happiness cannot exist without pain, and thus pain is necessary, a requirement even, in our pursuit of happiness. It's in part of response to her previous line about the devil being a liar that claims to fulfill your wildest desires. In other words, despite what the devil or our ego might claim,

suffering is unavoidable, and strictly chasing pleasure or personal gain will inevitably force you to enact suffering onto others and yourself. Turns out, Sim's wisdom here is ancient, inspired as it is by Eastern philosophy. This becomes clear in the next line, the fight between the Yin and Yangs, a fight you'll never win. The underlying concept of Yen Yang is that all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, such as dark light, old young, male-female, and so on. The philosophy is famously symbolized in a black and white circle that illustrates that each side at its core contains an element of the other. Neither side is superior to the other. Rather, a balance between the two must be reached in order to achieve harmony.

Thus, Sim saying that the fight between Yin and Yang is a fight you'll never win, adheres to the philosophy of balance central to Yin Yang. Within the context of her previous lines, she's reinforcing the polarities of happiness and suffering, that one cannot, by definition, exists without the other, and that balance must be achieved between the two, despite the devil's or temptations attempts to convince us otherwise. She then continues, I study humans, that makes me an anthropologist. The play here is that anthropology is the study of humans. Literally, the word is derived from the Greek Anthropos, which means human. The following bar gives more context to the line, as she says, I'm not into politics, but I know it's dark times.

While politics is the product of humans, Sim seems more concerned about the underlying human behavior that gives rise to politics more than the politics themselves. Sanghi knows its Dark Times is an acknowledgement of the grim circumstances of the 2020 so far, with the year 2020 itself being one of the more challenging years in recent human history. But the wording Dark Times is close to Dark Ages, and if this were a purposeful nod, it'd be a fitting reference, as the Dark Ages refers to the time after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which was marked by economic, intellectual, and cultural decline.

Thus, Sims could be drawing a parallel between then and now, perhaps insinuating we're living amid the fall or decline of the Western superpowers. The use of the word dark also binds to the next line, parts of the world still living in apartheid, as apartheid refers to a series of segregation laws that divided South Africans by race, black and white, or dark and light. We thus acknowledge Sims' subtle development of the yin-yang motif,

as segregation is the literal separation of black and black and white, the philosophical antithesis of Yin Yang's underlying principle of harmony. While apartheid formerly ended in South Africa in the early 1990s, the economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continued to the present day. It's also likely Sims as using apartheid to refer to segregation and racial inequality more generally, which is of course a global phenomenon. She then pivots to herself again, rapping, but if I don't take this winter's flight, that's career suicide, though I should have been a friend when your grandma died. With parts the world's suffering, Sims expresses guilt about her success, likening her career trajectory

to a flight that she catches, ascending to great heights while leaving others behind. This made her unavailable for her friend when her grandmother passed, which according to Sims is a line inspired by her real life. I did have some really real conversations with some friends during the making of the album that had, I guess, inspired certain lines and certain things, especially on introvert. I had a really deep conversation with one of my tight friends of 15 years. And we just, it was just really real. Like she just was like, you know, these are the moments where I feel like you haven't

been there for me when your career's done this. And this is where I felt excluded. This is where I felt left behind. And I had to sit with that. Do you know what I mean? And I had to take it on a chin and acknowledge it. Sims closes out the verse wrapping, I see the illness eat my aunt laying in her bed.

I see her soul rising as her body gets closer to death. It's a powerful image, and looking back at the last few lines, we notice that Sims has been consistently intertwining motifs of death and ascension. There was winter's flight and career suicide. There was the death of her friend's grandmother and the rise of her aunt's soul after death. Given the timing of this song's release,

we might wonder if the illness that killed her aunt was COVID-19, though to my knowledge, Sims has not confirmed this publicly. Now, after this final line of the verse, the beat abruptly stops, returning to the opening orchestral material before giving way to a chorus sung by artist Cleo Sol. Juxtaposing the more dark imagery of Sims' verse, British artist Cleo Sol sings an optimistic refrain. Find a way, I'll find a way, the world's not over. I will make it, don't you cry, and God we trust, because we're not alone. This trust in a higher power to guide us through tumultuous time seems to reflect Sims' real life faith, as she said, quote,

I wouldn't say I'm religious, it's more like I just believe in God. I don't necessarily follow religion at this moment in my life, but I have a very strong faith, unquote. We also recognize the potential double meaning in the final line because we're not alone, as it refers to the omnipresence of God and the fact that we have each other. This begins a theme of strength and unity and ultimately champion in Little Sims' second verse. A verse will dissect right after the break. Welcome back to Dissect. Before the break, we heard Cleo's soul sing introverts refrain,

which is immediately followed by Little Sims' second verse, a verse that is double the length of the first. I need a license to fill, and turn the wounds and I'm not trying to be healed. I sabotage will you're trying to build because the feelings I keep aside, but it's time to reveal. I hate the fault of just being a burden. I hate that these conversations are surfaced.

Sims are artists or Sim be the person. To you, I'm smart. Sims begins the second verse, I need a license to feel. It's a play on the iconic British Secret Service agent James Bond, who has a license to kill. The meaning seems to be that Sims needs to give herself permission to feel, as she continues, internal wounds and I'm not trying to be healed. I sabotaged what we're trying to build, because the feelings I keep inside, but it's time to reveal. Sims here touches on an aspect of her introversion, avoiding the internal wounds or long-standing emotional trauma she's experienced.

She recognizes her tendency to internalize hinders the development of her relationships, and so she finds the courage to reveal some of her wounds, leading to a succession of plainly stated insecurities. I hate the thought of just being a burden. I hate that these conversations are surfaced. Sims the artist or Simby the person. To you I'm smiling, but really I'm hurting. Sims pushes back on her inclination to assume success is synonymous with happiness,

drawing a distinction between herself as an artist, the persona of the public sees, and herself as a person, day-to-day self. Simms told Vogue that she sees a separation between the two, saying, quote, Sims the artist offers something in situations that maybe Sims the person can't and vice versa. So it's just making them work cohesively and coexist within this one body, unquote. Often the gap between what one feels and what they're able to communicate, facilitates the need to create art in the first place, as it offers alternative modes of expression for introverts who have difficulty with traditional communication.

Sims' attempt to harmonize the two is noble, as it's a sign of someone chasing authenticity in all aspects of their life, attempting to balance yin and yang. Sims continues, I dedicate my life and gave my heart over 20-something years, left wondering how I even feel. But was it even worth it? It appears Sims is questioning her passionate two decades-long pursuit of music, which began at an extremely young age. Here's Sims at 11 years old, rapping live on BBC Radio's One Extra. With over 20 years of rapping experience by the time introvert released, Sim's second guesses if such dedication was worth it in the end, since she doesn't feel totally

fulfilled or happy. These concerns continue, I bottle up and then spill it in verses. One day I'm wordless, next day I'm a wordsmith. We note the word play with bottle and spill, as well as wordless and word smith. The lines exhibit the separation between Simby the artist and the person, and the swinging polarities of her self-expression. In her day-to-day life, she's restraining her thoughts and feelings, only to have them come flooding out in her art. We get the impression this cycle of repression and articulation is exhausting, as she then admits, close to success, but to happiness of the furthest. This line resonates in the aftermath of her previous album, 2019's gray area, a tipping point in Sims' career, garnering her extensive critical acclaim that included the

coveted Ivor Novella Award, as well as the AIM Pioneer Award. Yet Sims observes that one step closer to success is one step further from happiness. These warring polarities called to mine her previous line, the fight between Yin and Yang's, a fight you'll never win, as we witnessed Sim's struggle to find the balance between our artistic ambition and her personal contentment. It brings about an interesting question for all of us to consider, which is what to do when the thing that you love the most is also the thing that causes you the most pain. Taking Simms' own citation of ancient Eastern wisdom, perhaps one cannot truly exist without the other, a fact we must ultimately come to

accept in our pursuits of love and passion. Still, while in the midst of pain, it's often hard to embrace the things we know to be true in theory. Thus we get the following line, at night, I wonder if my tears will dry on their own, hoping I will fulfill Amy's purpose. It's a sorrowing, isolating image, one that gains depth when we understand Sims here is citing British artist Amy Winehouse and her song Tears Dry on their own. Sims has been a big fan of Winehouse's music since she was young. Of course, First Winehouse famously struggled with fame, turning to drugs and alcohol as her popularity rose. This ultimately ended with her death in 2011 by alcohol poisoning at the infamous age of 27, where Winehouse joined a handful of icons like Jimmy Hendrix and Janice Joplin who also died at

27. On her track Flowers, the final song on Grey Area, Sims reflected on the so-called 27 club, even writing from the perspective of Winehouse in the second verse. Staring in the face of tragic Like I didn't just back to black it Love was my losing game Let's just call a spade a spade Paparazzi on my doorstep Never leaving home

Lying on the floor Mine's blown Trying to reach the phone Let me take One more hit for my eyes closed Let me take One more hit for my eyes closed Regarding the song Flowers

And the 27 Club Sim said quote For me, just looking at my life Where I'm at now And where they were at That age is right around the corner I'm not saying anything's going to happen to me, touch wood, but it's crazy how quick time flies. When I think about how much I want to achieve and how ambitious I am, I'm thinking about how

ambitious they must have been too. They were so young and there was so much more they could have done and offered the earth. I remember when 25 looked so far away. Now I'm here and I don't know how I got here. I just did. I landed here. It's another reflective song, paying homage. When asked specifically about the Amy Winehouse reference and introvert, Sims told Apple music, quote, I feel like my life is just getting started, so it just puts things into perspective that she literally had her whole life ahead of her, her whole career ahead of her. And I know she was someone that was, I didn't know her personally, but from interviews and seeing her, she really cared about the art, unquote.

Within the context of the verse, we can see why Sims thinks of Winehouse as she wrestles with the counterintuitive reality that success has not significantly contributed to her well-being, and perhaps is becoming a detriment to it, with Winehouse being an example of the most extreme outcome of this dynamic. Also by saying, hoping I will fulfill Amy's purpose, it's clear Sims feels like she's a torchbearer for British artists like Winehouse, viewing her own success as being in part a responsibility. She touched on this with quiet and loud, saying, quote, I know I'm special and I'm powerful, and I don't mean that in an arrogant way, but it's just my truth. I know I have a lot to contribute and to offer, and I'm not naive enough to think that this

is all my doing. I believe in a higher power and that I'm being used as a vessel, so I'm just allowing the powers that be to guide me." This idea of being chosen as a vessel for a higher power could equally inspire humility or arrogance, which gives rise to Sims' next line, Angel said, don't let your ego be a disturbance. Inner demon said, motherfucker, you earn this. Sims' war on side continues, as she once again battles polarities, this time borrowing the classic image of an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. But interestingly, Sims changes the devil to inner demon. This slight alteration conveys that the devil

works from within, manifested in the form of our ego selfishly seeking what we think we deserve at the expense of others, calling back to the line, the devil is a liar, fulfill your wildest desires. As the verse continues, Sim showcases the detrimental societal effects that occur when groups of people selfishly pursue their own interests at the expense of others. The demon said, motherfucker, you earn this. Like they strip you of everything you're deserving. Realize there is a prison and nasty. Be a condition that's far. Man, it's like they can't sleep till our spirit is crushed. How much fighting must we do? We've been fearless enough. All we've seen as broken homes in poverty. Crupts government officials lies and atrocities. How they're talking almost

threatening the economy. Knocking down communities to re-up on properties. I'm directly affected. It does more than just bother me. Look, be on a surface. Don't you see what you want to see. Sims continues the verse rapping. Like they strip you of everything you're deserving. Realized there's a prison in us. We are conditioned as fuck. Man, it's like they can't sleep till our spirit is crushed. tellingly, Sims' shift from her internal war to the external war begins by focusing on the oppression of the mind and spirit, which she dubs as a prison as a result of conditioning. Sims is almost certainly addressing the negative effects on the mental health of black people due to racism and white supremacy, which can lead to depression, hypervigilance, chronic stress

and fatigue, and symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. We might also wonder if these lines were inspired by some of the conversations she was having during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, A child of Nigerian immigrants, Sims told Vogue that she was deeply affected by talk she had with her mother about her experience as a black African woman in London during the 1970s. A common thing that kept reappearing in these conversations was like they were fighting silent battles. No one felt like they were being heard or listened to or respected, unquote. This kind of spirit-depleting silencing is felt in the following line.

How much fighting must we do? We've been fearless enough. Sims seems to be using fighting two ways here. to the protests of 2020, but also the day-to-day fight black people have endured for centuries. This became a recurring point of emphasis in the wake of Black Lives Matter, as many in the black community expressed their exhaustion about being tasked to protest, educate, and come up with solutions on top of enduring the everyday racism that gave rise to the need to protest, educate, and find solutions in the first place.

As Danine L. Brown wrote in her 2020 piece for Washington Post, quote, explaining racism is exhausting. It's exhausting to explain to people who don't believe you or who look at you with blank expressions, or worse, who ask, how do you know that happen because of your race? You try to summon the ancestors who might give you the energy to explain, but I no longer want to explain it. Black people are in pain right now, unquote. Sims continues giving voice to the black community's disadvantaged circumstances wrapping, always seen as broken homes and poverty. With Sims herself being raised by a single mother in

British public housing, she's speaking directly from personal experience, and her circumstances as mirror many black children in the UK. According to a 2022 study by the British Labor Party, more than half of black children in the UK are now growing up in poverty. They also found that black children are twice as likely to grow up poor as white children. Sims continues this thread saying, corrupt government officials, lies, and atrocities, how are they talking on what's threatening the economy,

knocking down communities to re-up on properties? Calling back to the sentiments of seeing sinners in a church, Sims critiques the corruption of those in power. power. She points out the hypocrisy of politicians fear-mongering threats to the economy when they themselves enact legislation that damages the economy of minorities. Specifically the line, knocking down communities to re-up on properties, Sims alludes to gentrification, a phenomenon in which publicly and privately funded financial investments rapidly transform a neighborhood, displacing established residents who can no longer afford the cost of living there,

breaking up their communities while investors reap financial gains. Sims then wraps, I'm directly affected, it does more than just bother me. Look beyond the surface, don't just see what you want to see. She makes an important distinction, that her critiques are not abstracted or theoretical, the rooted and direct lived experience. Indeed, while racial discrimination was pushed to the forefront of the public consciousness in 2020, Sims has made it clear she's been speaking on these issues for years, simply because they're a part of her life experience. She told the guardian, quote, I've been processing my whole life to be very real. This is for some people a wake-up call. all. My mom's been telling me you're a black girl, you'd better work twice as hard. I've been

having teachers mispronounce my name. I've been stopped in search, racially profiled, all of that, and I've been talking about this in my music forever, unquote. In this way, we might read the line, look beyond the surface, don't just see what you want to see, as a command to view Sims beyond her rising celebrity, as her public perception as a successful acclaimed artist does not immune her from the direct effects of racial discrimination. Thus we get the verses powerful final lines, where Sims projects what's inside, what's beyond the surface, speaking up for herself and her community. Sims wraps my speech ain't involuntary, projecting intentions straight from my lungs. I'm a black woman and I'm a proud one. We walk in blind faith, no, no, and the outcome. But as long as we're unified, then we've already one. Sims wraps, my speech ain't involuntary, projecting intentions straight from my lungs. I'm a black woman and I'm a proud one. In many ways, this triumphant, straightforward exclamation, is what the entire song is built toward.

It's the emphatic, resilient, fearless battle cry declared in the face of all that Simps is addressed throughout her verses. And according to Sims, she wrote these lines with a very specific purpose in mind. I think there are certain lines that are within the song, that I'm like, for example, I'm a black woman and I'm a proud one. Like, I feel like that's for someone. Do you know what I mean?

Like, as much as I'm saying it and I feel proud of it, and you know what I'm saying? I'm like, I want, you know what I'm saying? young black girls to say that shit at my shows with chest, do you know what I mean? And feel so proud of that, you know? This intentional call for unification is Sims' concluding message in the verse, as she ends rapping, we walk in blind faith not knowing the outcome,

but as long as we're unified, then we've already won. We recognize the wordplay with blind faith, as she uses walking blindly literally, hence not knowing the outcome, not being able to see exactly where you're going. Also, blind faith means an unquestioning faith that's not supported by reason, logic, or evidence. It's a fitting reference here, as Sims is likely alluding to the fact that her community remains resiliently hopeful and

optimistic, despite the overwhelming historical evidence of discrimination that might make such faith seem illogical or blind. We also recognize the wordplay in the final bar, but as long as we're unified, then we've already won, as one, W-O-N, is a homophone for one, O-N-E. This at once brings the song's consistent military motif full circle, as in winning the war, while also punctuating Sims' parting message of unification. She's quite literally unifying two of the song's central themes and her final word on the track. Fittingly, just after she says one, the instrumental returns to the military-inspired snare drum patterns, the very patterns once used to keep soldiers unified, moving as one. With introvert, Little Sims becomes a war artist, documenting as she does

the feeling of being alive during one of the most tumultuous times in recent memory. She takes a dualistic approach in crafting her sonic mural, depicting a war on two fronts, the societal battle of being a person of color in the world today, and the psychological battle of being a person, period. She accomplishes the latter by sharing her own private war as she attempts to reconcile the opposing forces of being both an introvert and a leader, reserved yet expressive, a private person with her own personal issues and a public figure speaking about issues on behalf of her community. Sims learning to find a yin-yang-like balance between her natural introversion and the expectations of being an artist and communicator has been an ongoing challenge, but one she's ultimately

made peace with. I've always known that I'm introvert. I just didn't know that was the term for it. I've always known I'm very, to myself, and even though people see me on stage, you think, well, I don't get that. How can you be on stage performing to 10,000 people? but you call yourself an introvert that's a bit backwards. But actually, I've always felt my way of expressing myself

has always been through my art. I find I communicate, believe it or not, better within my music than I probably do in a conversation or I'm going to get better at that, but for a long time that was definitely the case. And I think I'm someone that has put a lot of somewhat pressure around myself also to just not be introverted in that sense. And I think, well, if that's naturally who I am,

I want to always bring myself to whatever situation or space I'm in. And I don't want to change that for anyone. And I guess that's basically what my album encompasses when it's like the interlews that the rapper that came to D. Like, why do you want to be in these spaces if you feel really uncomfortable? and it's finding comfort within that, do you know what I'm saying? I think introverts are labeled as shy or like quiet or weird or whatever it is and it's like, no, I found power within that.

Hence why introvert sounds so big and so grand is because I found power within that introversion, you know? Here Sims answers the question we posed at the top of this episode that the reason a song titled introvert sounds anything but reserved is because Sims found power within a perceived limitation and she refused to suppress any part of herself to meet the expectations or demands society placed on her. And this uncompromising attitude is itself exemplary of the broader message Sims communicates to her community at the end of her final verse, that despite being historically silenced and continually marginalized,

the war will ultimately be won by continuing to express uncompromising power and pride in exactly who they are. Today's episode of Dissect was written and produced by me. Audio ending by Kevin Pooleer. Theme music by Beoracredic. If you enjoyed this episode, please tell a friend about the show or share on social media and tag at Dysect Podcast. And if you're new to Dysect, check out our back catalog of seasons covering full albums by Kendrick Lamar, Beyonce, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator, MacMiller, and more. Just scroll down our feed and find your favorite. All right, thanks, everyone. Talk to you next week.