S1mba

Zimbabwean-born rapper and songwriter S1mba crafts summery pop-rap tracks brimming with hooks and drawing from Afroswing alongside trap. His breakthrough arrived via the 2020 viral sensation “Rover.”

Born Leonard Simbarashe Rwodzi in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1999, he relocated to Swindon, England, at the age of nine. After starting out on percussion, he took up piano, performed with his church band, and later wrote and produced original material while still in secondary school. His debut release, the measured yet resolute “The Plan,” surfaced in 2018; “High Key” and “24/7” followed the next year. Near the close of 2019 he issued “Rover” independently, a cut produced by Relyt and featuring British rapper DTG. The song’s infectious “mu-la-la” refrain sparked a TikTok dance trend, prompting Parlophone to sign the track in March 2020; it climbed to number three on the U.K. singles chart and earned platinum status. After multiple remixes appeared, S1mba’s next major-label outing, “Loose” featuring KSI, arrived in September and peaked at number 14 in the U.K. while entering New Zealand’s Top Ten. Additional guest spots included a Clean Bandit “Tick Tock” remix and Predz UK’s “Naughty Naughty.”