Sundial by Noname

Five years can feel very long, or very short. For a kindergartner, five years is a literal lifetime, having gone from an immobile blob to a living, breathing, interacting and fast-moving person. But for the parents of that five-year-old, those first five years can feel like they flew by. Every parent who sends their child off to their first day of kindergarten thinks “Where did my baby go and how did this happen so fast?”

For Fatimah Nyeema Warner, aka Noname, the five years since she released her debut album, Room 25, must have felt extremely long. A lot has happened in that time: She announced a second album, to be named Factory Baby, a year after Room 25 came out, only to formally cancel it a year later;¹ She threatened to retire from music and the spotlight, and started a black- and queer-focused book club; She formed a rap supergroup with Smino and Saba (the latter of whom she collaborated with early on in her career); And she ultimately rededicated herself to her solo career, assembling a fantastic, confrontational, and welcoming second full-length, Sundial.

Noname got her start by falling in love with writing poetry and attending open mics and poetry slams. From there she made the natural movement into freestyle rapping with friends, including Chance the Rapper. Her first recorded appearance was on his second mixtape, Acid Rap, in 2013, and she contributed a verse to a song on his third, the timeless Coloring Book (which I sadly overlooked in 2016). Her first collected solo work was the mixtape Telefone, which came out immediately following that Chance collaboration.

Warner has a command of rhythm and verse unlike no other. While she doesn’t have any music videos I can point you to, you should hit play on her Tiny Desk Concert above. You can also hear a bit of her skill in the short film created about her Sundial Block Party from earlier this year. And then go and put on the full album. I wouldn’t be surprised if you find yourself having listened to it on repeat for the rest of the day.

^{1. She’d grown weary of her fame and frustrated with the (mostly white) demographic that followed her, saying on Twitter, “I refuse to keep making music and putting it online for free for people who won’t support me. If y'all don't wanna leave the crib I feel it. I don't want to dance on a stage for white people.”↩}