Hip-hop artist Noname has never had a problem speaking her mind and sharing her opinions on social media. So it is expected that the Chicago-based artist would have something to say about the election.
“honestly fuck this country. i’ll see yall tomorrow when everything is exactly the same,” she tweeted on election day.
Twitter responded.
“I love you but don’t be so negative,” one user tweeted. “Pessimism will get us nowhere, how can you expect to create change if you throw the idea that anything won’t happen? Life’s about the struggle to endure. We are the strugglers against all the assholes who want to keep things as they are.”
Another tweeted, “People look to you for guidance as an intelligent person in the game with a strong platform. Make sure you protect that energy and use the strength you’ve obtained in the last 10 years”.
Noname, whether online or in song, has a tendency to piss people off. Born Fatimah Nyeema Warner, she has called Obama a war criminal, called out Beyonce for exploiting the Black struggle for capitalism, and she has picked fights with a number of other hip-hop artists.
Rhyming and performing slam poetry since 2010, Noname gained wide recognition in 2013 for her appearance on the track “Lost” from Chance the Rapper’s mixtape, “Acid Rap.” She dropped her own mixtape, “Telefone,” in 2016, garnering critical acclaim. Her debut album, “Room 25,” was released in 2018 and was praised by music critics and hip-hop fans alike.
Noname funded “Telefone” herself using the proceeds from her mixtape. It was a calculated move.
“I think ownership, in terms of just maintaining your integrity and how I feel as a woman of color, I just don’t want my art to be owned by a white man. I wish it were more nuanced than just me being kind of stubborn in my own ‘fight the man mentality.’ But for me that’s really what it boils down to,” she told NPR. “I just personally like the role of an entrepreneur. I grew up in that framework because my mother owned her own bookstore, my grandparents own their own landscaping company. So, I guess I approach everything with a very entrepreneurial spirit and mentality.”
In 2019, Noname launched her own book club, focused on work by Black authors and authors of color. That year, she announced she was considering quitting music and expressed frustration that her fans were predominantly white.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.
“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,” she told NME.
In 2020, Noname confirmed that her music career was on pause.
