Sometimes the only way to get through the crap is to point to your close friends and ask, “Are you all seeing this too, or am I teasing?” Their affirmations keep you from feeling like you're on a different planet than everyone else. That's the driving force behind Noname's first project in five years, the striking and disturbing Sundial. On the first track, in typical buttery, slick delivery, he raps, “We smoke positivity like powder, trust.” It's a travesty: He's tired of anti-critical positivity, the kind that leads companies to dress up and commoditize black art, turning an artist's politics into a commoditized performance. He has no time for the idea that It's all good as long as it's Black, whatever they're selling. Sundial he pushes back against this complacency in a real, straight-faced way. It's not preachy or too heavy. Noname isn't trying to sell herself as a rebel. She is also unafraid of self-reflection that lays bare her own contradictions. In rap, where it's so often about appearing indestructible, hanging yourself out to dry is a brave move.
With her loose, shifting flow and soft, dynamic voice, Noname uses her sense of humor to seamlessly blend everyday thoughts with anti-imperialist ideology. Bars like, “Get that pussy dripping/Get that drop on the hood,” live comfortably alongside, “We're Wakanda/We're the queen, Rwanda/First black president and the one who bombed us.” They are both clearly provocative, the former because of the play on words, the latter because of the rawness. Criticizing Disney or Obama is still low-hanging fruit, but Noname draws the line so matter-of-factly, as if she knows it. I guess it won't be on the next playlist.
Noname isn't just throwing hits at large targets for fun. she doesn't get some take offs or be hated. Instead, she uses these thoughts to question herself. On “Namesake,” producer Slimwav's sonorous funk bass line and powerful percussion set the tone for some of the year's most inspiring rap. “Cause if you want some money, you can say that/You're worth the payback, these niggas got it all,” she spits, seemingly addressing other Black entertainers, less moved by the single-minded ambition to line their pockets than by the fact that they pretend otherwise.
