British-Nigerian rapper Little Simz has been announced as the curator of the 2025 Meltdown festival, which is being held at the Southbank Centre in London.
The Mercury Prize and Brit Award-winning artist, 30, will put together a “boundary-breaking” lineup for the 11-day festival as well as performing herself at the annual event, taking place from Thursday 12 June to Sunday 22 June.
Simz, born Simbiatu Abisola Abiola Ajikawo, is the latest in a long line of esteemed curators that include The Cure’s Robert Smith, Nick Cave, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Grace Jones and Elvis Costello.
In a statement, Simz said: “I’m super excited to be the 2025 Meltdown festival curator! My team and I are preparing 11 days of art, music, workshops and more.
“So many incredible artists have curated this festival so it’s a true honour to be a part of it. Thank you to the Southbank Centre for having me. Meltdown 2025 the Simz way is going to be epic. I’ll see you there.”
The Southbank centre’s head of contemporary music, Jane Beese, said: “Little Simz’s ability to forge new genre-defying ideas and her ambition to inspire the next generation of creators aligns with what the Southbank Centre’s artistic programme and vision stands for.
“We’re incredibly excited to witness the lineup she’ll curate and for the power of her great art, leadership and culture to bring people together on-side for our 30th year.”
Born in north London, Simz is regarded as one of the most gifted rappers of her generation, attracting early praise with albums such as 2016’s Stillness in Wonderland and 2019’s Grey Area.
In 2021, she received national acclaim for her fourth album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, which charted at No 4 in the UK and won the Mercury Prize the following year.
Writing for The Independent, critic Helen Brown praised Simz’s ambition, for the “Bond theme-level orchestration” in the production, and for her skill in deftly weaving together the personal and the political in a five-star review.
Simz’s most recent album, No Thank You, was surprise-released in December 2022 through the independent label, Forever Living Originals, while her latest EP, Drop 7, came out in February last year.
That summer, she played the Pyramid Stage in the slot before headliners Coldplay, later joining the pop-rock band for a live debut of their new song, “We Pray”, also featuring Nigerian singer Burna Boy, Palestinian-Chilean musician Elyanna, and Argentine singer Tini.
The lineup for her Meltdown festival is expected to be announced in spring.
