Sounds Like: Unflinching candor, authentic anger, and perseverance.

Noname surprised me twice this year. First, once again following a recommendation from James Acaster’s “Perfect Sound Whatever,” I picked up her mixtape “Telfone.”  The first surprise was how magical that album hit me. The blend of her down to earth perspective and lyricism, and how playful, yet understated her backing tracks were.  

The second surprise was listening to “Sundial,” and how all the magic of Telephone was still present, but how much of her delivery had shifted. There is more confidence and at the same time, an unhurried resignation.  Which makes sense, given the journey she was on leading to this release.  

Noname is Fatimah Nyeema Warner, and “Sundial”  is her third self-released album since dropping “Telefone”  in 2016, but had been writing poetry and rapping for years prior.  In the last five years, Noname has been more focused on activism and community causes than music.  There was a moment there where it looked like her 2018 release “Room 25” might be her farewell album. Then came “Sundial.” So with nothing to prove, and no need for anything from the music industry, Noname picks the mic up, and with that confident, relaxed delivery, she lets loose. Racism, capitalism, the war machine, sexism, misogyny, all gets laid to waste under her hypnotic delivery.  Nothing is off limits.

The music moves from jazz to gospel, with a slew of guests helping Noname hold court. Strong contributions from Ayoni on “boomboom” and Jimetta Rose & Voices of Creation on “hold me down” are stand outs. But nothing distracts us from the center ring: Nomame’s laser like precision to illuminate, captivate, and devastate with the turn of a phrase. It's something to behold, and it keeps you coming back. Maybe that’s the biggest surprise Noname gave me this year: the revelation of how many artists, and their art, are compromised, and how refreshing it is to hear from one who isn’t, and won't hold back. Noname plays no game but her own, and as such, she beating all of us.

Favorite Track: It’s really tough, as on any given day it could be “balloons”, “boomboom,” or any of the eleven tracks, really. Today I’m going to go with “hold me down” as that’s the one that hit me the hardest on first listen.