Monday Bites are bite-sized musician spotlights & playlists by Grace Lilly.
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• 3 min read •
Her music feels like water
Listening to Noname makes me feel like I’m in a quiet stream, rushing rapids, a tranquil lake, the overpowering ocean. Each song is different.
Sometimes I’m floating; calm, peaceful, reflective. Other times I’m being pulled through the rapids, the water taking control and ushering me where I need to go.
Always there’s an understanding of how powerful it is. A respect for its force. An awareness of something bigger than yourself, like when you see a picture of space.
Noname’s music has stuck with me ever since I first heard it back in 2016. Something about it has always felt right, natural even. Like the first time poetry clicks for you. A part of your brain opens up that doesn’t have to translate and analyze everything, it can just feel.
Noname
The basics
🤝 American rapper, poet, activist, and record producer
🤝 b. 1991 (Chicago, IL)
🤝 Known for her jazz-inflected hip-hop infused with sharp commentary on race, identity, sex and politics
Why you should know her: She’s been named one of the best rappers alive by Rolling Stone; has a unique ability to discuss personal struggle and radical thought in a soft-spoken, quick-witted style
If you like
✨ The Roots
✨ Lauryn Hill
✨ Nina Simone
✨ A Tribe Called Quest
✨ Outkast
Known for
🏆 Her spoken word-like cadences & subdued delivery
🏆 Mixing sometimes bleak, melancholy lyrics with brilliant, colorful production
🏆 Addressing themes of social injustices, gentrification, black women's pain; inspired by anti-capitalist theories
🏆 Running the Noname Book Club which focuses on radical texts by authors of color
Bite-sized facts
🍪 Born as Fatimah Nyeema Warner, grew up in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago
🍪 As a teen, spent time in her mother’s Afrocentric Bookstore and started writing poetry after taking a creative writing class in high school
🍪 Her first mixtape, Telefone, centers on important telephone conversations she’s had
🍪 Chooses to function as an independent artist; paid for her entire debut album herself using money from touring and guest appearances on Chance the Rapper projects
🍪 Influenced by author Toni Morrison, poet Patricia Smith, Nina Simone, André 3000, and Missy Elliot
Songs & dates
♫ 2010 She starts rapping and performing slam poetry
♫ 2013 Gains wide recognition for her appearance on the track "Lost" from Chance the Rapper's mixtape Acid Rap
♫ 2016 She releases her debut mixtape, Telefone, after three years of production, to critical acclaim
♫ 2018 Her debut album, Room 25, is released and receives further acclaim
♫ 2023 After a 1.5 year long hiatus, she releases her most recent album Sundial
She said
On her name:
⭐ “I try to exist without binding myself to labels. I’m not really into labels at all, even the way I dress; I usually don't wear anything with a name brand. For me, not having a name expands my creativity. I’m able to do anything.”
On choosing to be an independent artist:
⭐ “I think it's important because it's possible and it's doable. I think ownership, in terms of just maintaining your integrity and how I feel as a woman of color, I just don't want my art to be owned by a white man. I wish it were more nuanced than just me being kind of stubborn in my own ‘fight the man mentality.’ But for me that's really what it boils down to.”
My Noname Playlist
I gathered my fav Noname songs, from me to you with love. Like & save on Spotify and listen all week 💗
Where to start
Most recent Tiny Desk Concert
Noname’s second appearance at Tiny Desk, in November 2023
〰️
First Tiny Desk Concert
Noname’s original appearance at Tiny Desk, in April 2017
〰️
Her first music video
Directed by Alex Lill and written by Noname, the short film includes homages to Blaxploitation films of the 70s
〰️
Performing on SNL
With Chance the Rapper in 2016 (Noname is at 2:11)
Down the rabbit hole
If you wanna dive even deeper:
Interview on All Things Considered
(11 min listen) Noname spoke with NPR's Michel Martin about the messages of Room 25, her preference to stay independent as an artist, the state of women in rap and more. Listen (or read) here.
Instagram
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A horizontal refreshment
Sweet & Spicy Playlist 💕🌶️
The second monthly paid-subscribers-only Hangout Playlist is here ❤️🔥 Dive in for a good time. Hand-picked by me for you. Recommended listening: play for your crush.
x Grace
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