Noname [EDIT]

One Liner: Super chilled Chicago lady rapper

Wikipedia Genre: Hip Hop
Home: Chicago

Poster Position: 12
Day: Friday at 2:45
Both Weekends.

Thoughts:  Her one album came out in 2016, called Telefone, and she got some good critical reception for it at the time.  I reviewed it myself and also liked it.  Very cool flow - low key and conversational over the top of soul sample beats like fellow Chicagoans Common and Chance the Rapper.  She appeared on Chance's first big mixtape (Acid Rap) before also contributing a verse to Coloring Book.

Actual name is Fatimah Nyeema Warner.  Her original stage name was Noname Gypsy, but she changed it when someone made her aware that gypsy has a negative connotation.  She said this about her new stage name: In a 2016 interview with The Fader, she explained her current stage name, following the change:  "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. Noname could potentially be a nurse, Noname could be a screenwriter. I’m not limited to any one category of art or other existence, on a more existential level."  So there you go.  She's gonna just be a nurse screenwriter now.  But never a gypsy.

Her top song has a super classic sound - very chill flow over some bright, soulful old school beats.  "Diddy Bop," currently boasting 19.1 million streams.

One of those kind of summer jams - nostalgic both because of the lyrics and because of the sound.  Great story-telling and a good match of sound to lyric.  The guest rappers are also pretty solid.  A perfect jam right there.

Oh!  Tiny Desk, baby!  YES.

Oh, she's so sweet.  I mean, like endearing and cute in her little mid-song talks.  Her flow is freaking good too.  Love getting to see her up close, just bouncing along over the music and pumping out complicated syllables.  Could do without the guitarist's O faces.  But the tunes are solid.

The second most streamed tune on her Spotify is "Shadow Man," with 13.7 million streams.

Stays super chill, with those laid back soul beats and her cool-river flow.  Even with no new music in years, I'm on board.  Maybe she'll release something new before the Fall?  Either way, I'd go for it.

[edit 9/14/18]  New album out today, called Room 25.  Very similar vibe, that chilled out beat space with her lyrics spoken as though she's just chatting with you and it all happens to rhyme.  The album is so new that there aren't any playcounts of note, nothing has more than 4,000 streams, but I'm going to give you the album opener, because I think it has good imagery and is fun.

That beat sounds like Common loaned it to her, right?  So chilled and laid back.  I'm a little confused about why her vagina is teaching a class about colonialism, but this is some crazy dense rap.  I like it.  The flow sounds great, and it feels like something you need to listen to a little more carefully to unpack all of the references.  Still ready to see her.