It seems like it’s been a long, long time since Chicago rapper/poet Noname put out a new song. However, the wait will soon come to an end, as the outspoken MC has announced the release date for her next single. It’s called “Balloons,” it features New Orleans rapper Jay Electronica and Detroit singer Eryn Allen Kane, and it’s due on July 21.
The track constitutes Noname’s first new single since 2021 when she released “Rainforest” without much fanfare. Prior to that, her last release was the fiery “Song 33,” her June 2020 response to J. Cole’s “Snow On The Bluff,” which criticized an unnamed commenter for shutting down questions online. Fans interpreted the song as a shot at Noname, and after the hype died down, it seemed that the Chicago rapper was exhausted by the scrutiny.
Noname has shifted her focus to activism in recent years, putting her admired rap career on the back burner. She has fought for causes such as Black Lives Matter and women’s rights at every turn, even if it meant public feuds with hip-hop greats. In 2021, the focus moved further from her rhymes when she and Talib Kweli exchanged words after publicly defending women he’d been accused of harassing. That same year, she and J. Cole had a beef over her calling out rappers for not speaking out about police brutality. Now, it appears that Noname has been back in the studio and is ready to release her latest work to the world.
On Sunday, Noname shared a post to her Instagram account, confirming that an album was en route. “My new album is called ‘Sundial.’ It will be released in July 2023,” she announced before thanking her fans “for everything.” Her followers swarmed her comment section, celebrating the news that is years in the making. One wrote, “Go ahead and release a single so we know it’s real.” His calling for confirmation was written with good reason. Noname has previously left her listeners starved, abruptly stalling projects in the past.
After the J. Cole and Talib Kweli debacle, Noname chose to cancel her highly anticipated album, “Factory Baby.” The LP was slated to be a follow-up to her 2018 debut, “Room 25.” She canceled “Factory Baby” in December 2021, pointing to several reasons. Noname explained that she couldn’t find quality producers that aligned with her sound. Furthermore, she confessed that she was trying to rekindle “the spark” that helped launch her career to no avail. At the time, she sparked retirement rumors, telling fans she may step away from music for good. “I don’t want to keep lying and saying there’s an album on the way when there’s not,” she stated.
Luckily, it appears that Noname has rediscovered some inspiration. She’s likely connected with the right producers, though details on who she collaborated with are unknown. However, fans are skeptical, and careful not to be let down yet again. With July just three months away, it won’t be long before fans find out if Noname is serious or if she’ll pull another disappearing act.
Apparently 2023 is the year of musical returns. First, SZA made her big comeback. For weeks Cardi B has spoken publicly about working on her sophomore album. Now Noname is throwing her hat into the ring. All three ladies waited five years before dropping or, in some cases, beginning to work on a full-length follow-up.
Well, now they’re in luck. In a post uploaded to Instagram, the musician wrote, “My new album is called Sundial. It will be released in July 2023.” She added, “Thank you for everything.”
Noname’s last album, Room 25, was released in 2018. In between single drops, she’s focused her energy on her community activism work, including Noname’s Book Club, which focuses on “uplifting people of color voices” by highlighting literary works centering their stories. The literary and social awareness movement has played a vital part in the conversations about educational resources available in underfunded areas. That said, Noname is no stranger to using her music to address political and social issues. It’s safe to assume that her forthcoming album will do the same.
Fans of Noname were overjoyed after hearing the news. See a few of their reactions below.
noname dropping an album i’m gonna cry i used to pray for times like this fr
Before deactivating her Twitter, after it was revealed that she would be returning to Coachella, Noname wrote, “Now if Coachella doesn’t convince y’all I’m bout to drop an album, I don’t know what will.” It looks like she’s keeping her word.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Noname has never been one to hold her tongue when it comes to calling out injustice. So it’s no surprise that she took to social media to offer her thoughts about how Black artistry gets commodified by corporations, which often bleeds the culture dry. On Thursday, January 19, the poet and rapper took to Instagram to challenge her fellow Black artists to start gatekeeping Black culture.
“One of the biggest mistakes I believe we’ve made in our struggle towards liberation in this country is allowing white America unfiltered access to our entire culture. White America has created an institution of violent policing and medical neglect that is killing us EVERY F**KING DAY,” she wrote.
The Chicago native urges her Black contemporaries to understand their power and how easily accessible the culture has become to the masses.
“And every day we get on their platforms (Tik Tok, Twitter, etc.), and we create trends, music, art, and language that they turn into billions,” she continued.
The rapper, whose real name is Fatimah Nyeema Warner, compared that state of Hip Hop to that of Blues, both of which originated from the Black pain and trauma artists expressed through their music. She noted that the two genres have been co-opted by white dollars.
“As black artists making black art, we have a responsibility to our community and to our culture,” she wrote. “I understand needing to survive under capitalism, but there is power in collective action! What would it look like if we all said, unless festivals, streaming, [and] social media puts 10% of their profits into a black community fund we use to house and feed people, we will no longer contribute our content.”
Noname recently made a powerful statement on Instagram, as she urged Black artists to gatekeep their art. Moreover, she shared some statements on Thursday (January 19) about how Black art is exploited by white audiences or white-owned mediums. While the Chicago native paused her music career, she continues to engage in important and impactful activism, action, and dialogue.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 21: Singer Noname performs onstage during the ‘Room 25’ tour at The Wiltern on February 21, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
“One of the biggest mistakes i believe we’ve made in our struggle towards liberation in this country is allowing white america unfiltered access to our entire culture,” she wrote. “White america has created an institution of violent policing and medical neglect that is killing us EVERY F***ING DAY. and every day we get on their platforms (tik tok, twitter etc.) and we create trends, music, art and language that they turn into billions.
“Twitter admits in their guidelines that they disclose account information to law enforcement,” she continued. “They literally are the police. We do not own Black culture. We create it.”
great, now we’ll have more money for police and military. taxing the rich fixes everything https://t.co/auj13KDy9Z
Moreover, she connected the exploitation of hip-hop today to the evolution of blues and jazz music in U.S. history.
“Do yall never think, maybe white people don’t organize to end economic/racist exploitation that black people face simply because they love consuming the art we make out of survival,” the Room 25 rapper stated. However, her statement was more nuanced than skeptics likely assume.
“As black artists making black art, we have a responsibility to our community and to our culture,” she expressed. “I understand needing to survive under capitalism but there is power in collective action! what would it look like if we all said, unless festivals, streaming, social media puts 10% of their profits into a black community fund we use to house and feed people, we will no longer contribute our content.
“I’m about to play coachella because i need the bread,” she went on. “Trust, i’m not above anybody but if there was a collective boycott where ALL black artists refuse to share our work unless we see radical change in our conditions, i would immediately do that s**t.”
Furthermore, she engaged in a respectful back-and forth in the comments, even if they weren’t returning respect in kind. For example, for those quick to judge her Coachella appearance, she revealed some hardened circumstances.
“I stopped playing shows for yearsss! for the exact reason i’m talking about and nothing happened,” the 31-year-old responded to one user. “I’m not a big enough artist for them to care. Sorry but i’m not about to have my mom on the street unless EVERY artists willing to make that sacrifice. I almost [did] that shit and never again.”
Regardless, what do you think of Noname’s call to Black artists to gatekeep their work? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments down below. Also, as always, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest from your favorite artists.
Chicago rapper Noname seems to be much more interested in activism than music these days. After opening the Radical Hood Library in Los Angeles last autumn, she insinuated that she was done with music, apologizing to fans for stringing them along regarding her long-awaited third studio album, Factory Baby. However, just a few weeks later, she posted a photo from her home studio, musing in the caption that “maybe 30 is too young to retire.”
If that was an encouraging sign for longtime fans hoping that Noname would rediscover her spark for music, then her latest post should have them feeling ecstatic — or at least cautiously optimistic. In a new post, Noname announced that she’d be performing again for the first time since before the pandemic before releasing the album. In the caption she gave her reasoning, which fluctuated between exasperated obligation and outright bravado. “First i’ll play a few shows because my mortgage doesn’t care about my politics,” she wrote. “Then i’ll drop an album because it seems like people forgot i’m that bitch.”
The first show in question will be at the upcoming Afropunk festival in Minneapolis on June 19, where she’ll join a lineup including Ari Lennox, Mereba, Sango, and Pink Siifu. Then, I guess we’ll see what happens.
Rapper Noname is teasing new music. Earlier today, she shared a photo of herself in what appeared to be a home studio, with a microphone, speakers and a Macbook.
In November 2019, Noname announced plans to quit music after releasing her second album, FactoryBaby, feeling frustrated after years of performing for predominately white audiences. She also admitted she wasn’t fully invested in music. “To be honest with you, my heart isn’t fully in it anymore,” said Noname in a now-deleted tweet, replying to a fan asking her to drop new music.”The relationship between ‘artist’ and ‘fan’ is really f*cking unhealthy. Y’all like what y’all like and hate what y’all hate. And I don’t wanna be on either side. I’m just tryna read and organize. After factory baby it’s (peace sign emoji).”
Factory Baby never saw an official release, and Noname shared plans to scrap the album altogether last December. however, Noname released the standalone singles “Song 33” and “Rainforest” in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Despite expressing her frustrations, as well as a desire to redirect her efforts toward supporting local communities, Noname may not be completely divorced from making music.
“maybe 30 is too early to retire,” the Chicago rapper said in an Instagram post. She also shared the flyer for Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, where she’s booked to perform supporting The Roots, Toro Y Moi, and Earl Sweatshirt.
Whether she plans to revisit Factory Baby or start on an all-new project is unclear, however, fellow rappers Denzel Curry and Chance the Rapper shared their support for Noname’s potential return to music in her Instagram post’s comments.
In late 2019, shortly after Chicago rapper and activist Noname initially announced that Factory Baby, the follow up to 2018’s wildly praised 25, would be out in 2020, she started insinuating that perhaps her “heart isn’t fully in it anymore.” She tweeted back then about how she felt that “the relationship between ‘artist’ and ‘fan’ is really f*cking unhealthy. Yall like what y’all like and hate what y’all hate. And I don’t wanna be on either side. I’m just tryna read and organize. After factory baby it’s (peace sign emoji).”
After some delays and uhhhh…a freakin’ pandemic, she released the track “Rainforest” in early 2021, a sleek but pleading track that saw her voicing her displeasure for her mind state and the state of the world in general. It was presumably the first single from Factory Baby. But that’s been it from Noname musically ever since — and yesterday, she confirmed that it could very well be the last piece of music she ever releases.
In a post on her Instagram story, Noname opened up about how empty she feels musically and how it has become increasingly difficult to create. With a picture of herself, she posted a lengthy caption that read:
“Most days I’m not sure if I’ll ever make music again,” she said. “The last time I was consistently making songs was 4 years ago. It’s been so hard to find producers to link up with and who I genuinely connect with sonically. I’m truly grateful for the art I was able to release but that might be it from me. Like it shouldn’t be this hard. No like this shit actually makes me incredibly sad and I rarely leave the crib these days. I don’t want to keep lying and saying there’s an album on the way when there’s not. I’m sorry I’ve led y’all on. I wanted to believe things would change but they haven’t.”
It’s a bummer. There’s really no other way to say it. Noname has been a welcome and vital voice out of the Chicago rap scene that surged in the mid 2010’s and blossomed big time from there. Her Noname Book Club helps raise POC voices with their picks and also uses funds raised to send books to incarcerated people. It secured a physical HQ earlier this year. It’s been a rough two years all around and here’s hoping that whatever Noname chooses to do moving forward, is something that makes her truly happy and fulfilled.
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