Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Admittedly, I’m not that familiar with Noname’s catalog. In fact, the first time I’d ever heard of her was during the great J.Cole “Snow on Tha Bluff” kerfluffle of June 2020. In brief, the superstar rapper dropped a record where he went at Noname for her thoughts and opinions on any of society’s -isms and felt, kinda sorta, personally attacked. This, of course, spread all over social media, and Noname released a response to it, “Song 33.” That’s all water under the bridge now; point is, that was the first time I’d ever heard of the rapper known as Noname (formerly Noname Gypsy).
Since then, I’ve heard a smattering of her songs here and there, and she’s popped up in a story here or there about this or that, but I cannot say that I was paying much attention. And then, in August, she dropped her second album, “Sundial,” which had the internet streets talking. There’s a verse from Jay Electronica on the album that is allegedly anti-semitic, and Noname stood 10 toes down and refused to apologize for including it on her album (it’s on a song called “ballons,” which also features one of my faves, Eryn Allen Kane).
Then I heard she was taking aim at Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar, and frankly, I was over it. When controversy is the driver (more on this later) I tend to tune out. And then I read one of a litany of articles highlighting the death of “real” hip-hop that name-checked “Sundial” as revolutionary in the space. I was compelled, at that point, to hate-listen to “Sundial.” But a crazy thing happened. I ended up loving…
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