This is Noname

I’ve been trying to tell y’all Chicago has been winning for the past couple of years. There are so many skills, so many talents that keep coming to the surface and this woman was there from the start. Y’all remember Acid Rap? Yeah, I think everyone caught onto her verse in “Lost”. Noname was clean with it. Like most of us I thought this was her debut as a rapper but when I searched her name, she already had “heat” out on a tape called ‘Cherrypie Blues’. “Mary Jane Love”, she did it with that one. You could not deny the magic at this point. She just adds a different flavor to the mix. We then heard her featured on Mick Jenkins’ ‘The Waters’ back in August of 2014 on a tune called “Comfortable” and as fans, could’ve assumed that she would start hopping on a lot of other Chicago projects, but no…

From then on it’s been a low key, but yet important last couple of years for Noname. She dropped “Gypsy” from the end of her name and got so low with her music that fans started feening for more from her. When Chance the Rapper dropped Surf last summer, of course we expected a feature which we got in “Warm Enough”. With the song being so early in the album, it set the tone and vibe for a sedated collection of music you could truly zone out to. In August of 2015, Noname and Chance dropped a classic called “Israel Sparring”. Not only were we happy to hear more Chance as his popularity grew faster than mold, but we were also stunned to hear more Noname because she delivers in every track as well. “Israel Sparring” is the hottest collab Noname and Chance have out to this day and acknowledging their relationship, they have more than a few.

About 8 months ago via Twitter Noname announced that she would soon be releasing her debut official mixtape, ‘Telefone’. Three months apart from each other, she restarted and blessed her soundcloud with three new tracks, “Open Apology”, “All I Need”, and my personal favorite “Freedom Interlude”, all with the hashtag Telefone. Let’s take a dive into “Freedom Interlude”. I feel like out of all songs, this is the most accurate representation of Noname and her skills. This is open mic night in Chicago, with all black and drums in the background. Noname sounds like a mother in the sense that her voice is so soothing and light hearted that you just have to listen before anything else. She is more than a poet, more so a rapper because one cannot deny the fact that this woman hops on a track and straight spits. She has those bars that you won’t even catch until you’re on your 7^th listen but I promise you they all make sense. Not to mention the Nina Simone at the end, icing on the cupcake.

As we wait for her to finally bless us with ‘Telefone’, I urge you to hop on the wave now if you haven’t already. Like the entire city, Noname is cold and when she drops, heads are going to turn so fast that necks break. She isn’t new to this thing though and confidently stated, she’s just getting better at being her. Check out these songs below and educate yourself. If you know good music you’ll be pleased…