Explore the ways in which “No Merciâ (2022), by Little Simz and Inflo, explores the speaker’s experiences as a black woman working within Anglo-American popular culture.

  1. Explore the ways in which ‘No Merci’ (2022), by Little Simz and Inflo, explores the speaker’s experiences as a black woman working within Anglo-American popular culture. You should concentrate on roughly the first half of the song (from the opening to 2:16). In your response, you may discuss the music and performance of the song, but this is not a requirement of the task. You will not be penalised for choosing to focus solely on the lyrics, which you will find below.
 
Who you know getting busy with the force like haha
I laugh cos we good that’s hakuna matata
Bet you wanna see a black woman get active
Whenever they chat shit I just say nada
Free from the BS I was carrying the weight being stuck up in the matrix it’s a rat race
Giving them our truth and they gave us black face
Why you wanna make a mockery of my pain?
Way too long we been carrying the shame
If we knew we had magic would we put needles in our veins?
That’s that selling us a lie shit
Keep us low then we get high quick
And it doesn’t change
I was down and out had my bank account untamed
Trusting of the people billing every call made
Everybody here getting money off my name
Irony is I’m the only one not getting paid
You been tanning in the sun so now ima throw shade
I probably paid for your Balmain
Know your good at selling me the n**** dream 1m might just make a night scream n**** we made it!
Give me equity if you about it
We been here climbing these mountains
Trekking through the rain
Ownership is the only conversation we can have
Taking the throne back
You shouldn’t of got attached
No Merci
 
Free the birds tuppence a bag
Hella diamonds in the stash
Currency in cash
Put the bullshit in the trash
N****s riding out got the bible on the dash
God do everything you can to prevent us from a crash
You know that I’m unapologetically black
I can see it make you nervous here you ain’t gotta act
I’m a human land mine
I am not a human being you can gas light
If the contract more than 2 page it’s a bad sign
I was convinced it was fine it’s my damn time
16 calling America on the landline
Thank God that my brother kept the flashlight
Needed guidance through the dark I know sad times
I know good hearts
You is badmind
Everything is archived I can never be stopped
Can’t get thru to me you’ll see that you been blocked
No Merci
 
Referencing: MHRA
Word Count: 1000 word critical-commentary

Instructions :
⁃ The commentary is not an essay.
⁃ It is a close textual analysis of a given extract. All you need to comment on is the extract in front of you. If you think it pertinent, you may want to provide any important context about its position in the overall text and its relationship to the overall text. However, it can be done extremely briefly.
⁃ Keep your analysis pertinent to the terms of the question.
⁃ The aim is not to accumulate observations or descriptions of the passage, but to consider the significance of them for responding to the question.
⁃ You do not need a detailed introduction or conclusion of the kind you would use in an essay. You might want to simply frame the analysis with a couple of sentences, giving a sense of your overall response to the question.
⁃ You do not need to refer to critics.
⁃ You do not need footnotes for the extract
⁃ Successful commentaries will focus on how the form/style of the extract relates to its meaning(s) and effects.
⁃ The best places to look for guidance on your analysis, and on the recommended critical terminology, are in your notes from seminars, and lectures. The close reading exercises we have done in class are targeted specifically at the sort of analysis we are asking you to undertake here. It is eminently possible to produce a first-rate commentary drawing