No Thank You (album)

No Thank You has ten songs and clocks in at just under fifty minutes. Musically, it is a hip hop album with influences from gospel, funk, R&B, and electronic music. Cleo Sol is a featured vocalist on the album, adding a "soulful energy" to contrast Simz's "assertive" rapping.[11][12] The songs on No Thank You have long instrumental codas that are highlighted by Inflo's "lushly" and "inventive" arrangements filled with choral vocals and "swelling" strings. These musical touches were compared to works from David Axelrod and Charles Stepney, though "without ever seeming like straightforward homage."[13] No Thank You was further described as "atmospheric" and "melancholic".[3]

Hip Hop Golden Age staff compared the release with Simz's previous two studio albums, saying the "neo soul direction" of No Thank You lands somewhere between the "short and punchy" energy of Grey Area, and the "sprawling and grandiose" nature of Sometimes I Might Be Introvert.[14] Jack Lynch of Hypebeat highlighted the lyrical themes, saying: "[...] we hear the struggles that came with killing her ego, navigating a male-dominated rap industry, and how her love affiliations have been difficult to manage while staying embedded in her faith."[11] i writer Kate Solomon summarised the record's mood: "Hard beats are absent, in their place dreamy funk riffs and laidback flows that are in no hurry to get where they're going. There is anger but it is eclipsed by confidence and a sense of righteousness."[15]

On the minimalist album opener, "Angel", Simz analyses her rise to stardom with a "Prince-style pun" on master ownership.[10][16] A "reflective" track with "electronic coos," the song pays tribute to Simz's late childhood friend Harry Uzoka, a famous model who was killed in a stabbing in January 2018, and also examines Simz's fame, music industry complications, and personal endurance.[17][18] Dylan Green of Pitchfork noted how "fully relaxed" Simz sounds on track two, "Gorilla", which samples a Jurassic 5 bassline.[10][19] Green highlights the "triumphant" and "victorious mood" of the song, accentuated by its bass plunks, drums, and horns, adding how "Gorilla" is "a retort against rap game bullshit". Track three, "Silhouette", contains gospel influences, and James Keith of Complex Networks also noted strong gospel elements running throughout the whole album.[15][20] The outro of "Silhouette" features "dramatic orchestration, booming drums and backing singers".[13]

Track four, "No Merci", has "whirring synths" and was described as "a brash and inventive track with vintage samples fluttering behind a beat designed to make you move".[15][18] Track five, "X", is about spiritual guidance and overcoming pain. It features a "wall of percussion" resembling "a marching band, West African drumming and rolling breakbeats".[13] A theme of perseverance runs through track six, "Heart on Fire". On the seventh track, "Broken", Simz explores generational trauma and Black mental health. Uproxx noted the song's "looped melodic sample and hi-hats".[16] Track eight, "Sideways", has a "head-turning blast" of "aggressively" sped-up vocal samples. On the "beautifully warped soft soul" of track nine, "Who Even Cares", Simz sings about on focusing her eyes towards the future with a subtle auto-tuned vocal.[13][15][21] The closing track, "Control", is a piano-led number about falling in love.[13][22]

On 15 December 2022, Simz shared a teaser of a No Thank You film on her Instagram account, announcing its release for the follow day. On 16 December 2022, she released the ten-minute No Thank You short film to accompany the album.[25] The film, directed by Gabriel Moses, features five songs from the album. In order, they are "X", "Silhouette", "Sideways", "Broken" and "Heart on Fire". Emma Wilkes from NME noted how these songs are "combined with visuals that present the rapper as a giant presiding over a flock and delivering her lines before a crowd of wealthy observers.[26] Larisha Paul from Rolling Stone felt that "Throughout the film, Simz settles into a lead role surrounded by other Black performers to not only reject praise provided by external validation, but also reject the harmful myth of the strong Black women that more often than not erases the sympathy of human struggle by discrediting emotions that don't line up with the preconceived narrative prescribed to them."[25]