As a song, “I Love You, I Hate You” is the fulcrum of Little Simz’s devastating and beautiful album, Sometimes I Am Introvert. It’s incredibly vulnerable and visceral songwriting from the British rapper, as she dissects the relationship (or lack thereof) with her absent father. When you dive into lyrics like, “You know what was destroyed, but you don’t know what was left,” it’s clear that there was deep soul-searching required to arrive at the stunning final track, produced by Inflo.
Now, Little Simz has just released a short film commissioned by WeTransfer’s “WePresent” platform and it adds depth and context to Simz as a songwriter. With a story conceived by the rapper, it marks her film debut in the 22-minute piece written by Caroline Adeyemi and directed by Sam Pilling (who has been behind a number of The Weeknd clips and also directed the epic Run The Jewels and DJ Shadow “Nobody Speak” visual).
In the film, Simz’s lead character is a writer on a deadline, spending time in the British countryside with her partner and close friend. It’s beautifully shot and spares no emotions as the imagery and collateral damage of creating lasting work is depicted in numerous ways.
In a statement, Simz shared some thoughts on the project:
“I Love You, I Hate You is the story of abandonment. 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.”
Up next in the WePresent series will be a performance film by Moses Sumney entitled Blackalachia, out on December 8th. In it, Sumney and his band come to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, to play songs off his albums Grae and Aromanticism. “The film is a wild imagining of what can happen when we seek not just to reclaim nature, but to reintegrate with it,” Sumney said.
Little Simz’s I Love You, I Hate You the film is out now and you can watch it above. Check out the trailer for Moses Sumney’s Blackalachia here.