Little Simz Stars in Short Narrative Film ‘I Love You, I Hate You’
Little Simz has debuted an original narrative short film, I Love You, I Hate You, in partnership with WePresent. The film is a deep dive into a song of the same name from Little Simz’s recent album Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.
The musician stars in the 20-minute film, which is based on a story she wrote. It was directed by Sam Pilling and written by Caroline Adeyemi, and co-stars Shaniqua Okwok, C.J. Beckford and Sonia Ajuwa.
“I Love You, I Hate You is the story of abandonment,” Little Simz said in a statement. “How trauma can affect us in our adult lives if never confronted. I wanted to make this film because I feel it’s a universal story that many people can relate to. It’s been incredible to work with a partner like WePresent (the digital arts platform of WeTransfer) who are so invested in telling stories like this. They understood and trusted my vision from the jump and had my back to create the film I set out to make.”
Little Simz released Sometimes I Might Be Introvert in September. It follows Little Simz’s 2019 album, Grey Area. Simz produced the album with her regular collaborator Inflo, and it will feature guest appearances from Cleo Sol, Obongjayar, and even The Crown star Emma Corrin.
Last month, Little Simz released a music video for “I Love You, I Hate You,” directed by Jeremy Ngatho Cole. The video shares its themes with the new short film as the singer tackles parental strife as she hits with the lyric “Are you a sperm donor or a dad to me?”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the rapper shared: “As much as it’s written about him, it’s not about him. It’s about me and my feelings about it all and how this is affecting my relationships in my life.”
She went on to explain that the creative and personal growth she experienced between the release of her first album in 2015 and her fourth just last month is what allowed a song like “I Love You, I Hate You” to exist in its current form.
“I don’t think I was emotionally mature enough to tackle something like that. Had I released it then, it probably would’ve just been lots of ‘Fuck you.’” she said. “This time around, even though that energy is there, it’s also me acknowledging: ‘Well, actually, you were just a boy and you probably had your own childhood traumas or things that you had to deal with in your life that I am not aware of, which could’ve led to why you wasn’t able to be a good father.’”
