Noname: The Warrior of Chicago’s Pulse

Noname (born Fatimah Nyeema Warner) is a gorgeous example of art completely engulfed in Chicago sound. From her beginnings as a spoken word poet, she created her artistic sphere starting in high school, and found herself surrounded by other young musical talents that went on to be as big and influential as she did. Slam poetry is a huge scene in Chicago, and we find that lots of our most talented artists often start in those environments. Not only does it contribute to genius songwriting, but it creates that smooth, calculated, original Chicago pulse that makes the sound we know and love today. Growing up in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, she didn’t have much direct access to artistic programs that allowed her to flourish, so she joined YOMedia Project, a space for young Chicago artists to create together based in the Harold Washington Library. Here she met other Chicago greats like Chance the Rapper, and they ended up finding a gorgeously symphonic sound between the two of them, leading to her featuring on many of his songs including on his debut album Acid Rap and his later album Coloring Book.

Noname is an original soul through and through. She represents the pulse of Chicago music in such an authentic way, while still maintaining her own individuality. She makes a point to stay true to herself and the flexibility in which she creates and exists. She is a prime example of checking herself in terms of being as accepting and welcoming to all people as possible. Her original stage name being Noname Gypsy was purposeful in that she thought of gypsies as people who were nomadic and not tied down to one particular spot. Once realizing the negative connotations the term has for Romani people, she shifted to Noname quickly, and immediately admitted her mistake. She is purposeful with her name Noname because of its free aspects and details that are not specific and not limiting. In an interview with The Fader in 2016 she said:

“I try to exist without binding myself to labels. I’m not really into labels at all, even the way I dress; I usually don’t wear anything with a name brand. For me, not having a name expands my creativity. I’m able to do anything. Noname could potentially be a nurse. Noname could be a screenwriter. I’m not limited to any one category of art or other existence, on a more existential level.”

That originality and zest for her individuality transfers through in her debut album released in 2016 called Telefone (favorite song Yesterday). After a prolonged three year production time period, this album represents some of the lesser-known aspects of Chicago’s sound, and finds a beautiful landing in a feeling of home. Her rhythmic cadence is not incredibly complicated, and is mostly made using voices and snaps. Her sound is very dynamic in that way where it is a sort of acapella/found sound vibe. While she has influences of some drums and other rhythmic devices to maintain the integrity of the sound, she mostly uses a fuller and more intriguing tool to create the vibe she strives for. Her smooth and bounteous tone of voice is really the highlight of her music. She presents this sense of calm and complexity at the same time. Her influences of slam poetry shine through in this album, and you can tell how important of a tool that becomes for her music and her soul. 

In 2018 she released her next album called Room 25 (favorite song Ace). This album included tons of features from other Chicago artists including Saba and Ravyn Lenae. In this album she explores a bit more of the jazzy/blues aspects of Chicago’s sound. We see a bit more energy involved in it than in her previous albums and singles. The sound switch is tangible for this album, and it is clearly due to her big life changes that had happened between dropping Telefone and Room 25. Within that time she had gone on tour for Telefone, and then moved to LA. She engaged in a brief romantic relationship, which she publicly explained was a very big switch for her sound. During her writing of Telefone she was not engaging in sexual activities and found that those detailed strongly impacted her writing. She had a financial struggle after moving to LA, and found herself at a point where she simply couldn’t play the songs on Telefone anymore. She wasn’t that person any longer. She didn’t sound like that anymore. She knew she needed to drop a new album, and fast. She used the royalties from guest features with Chance the Rapper and touring to pay for her next album which was recorded in a month. This album shows a whole other side of Noname that truly represents her growth as an artist, and the tremendous impact that her life and her journey has had on her music.

Noname went through many different changes after the release of her second album. She found that a majority of her audience was white, and exclaimed that she never intended for that to be the case. Her music and intentionality is based around injustice and anti-capitalist ideals which she felt were not being highlighted with a predominately white crowd within her fanbase. She announced in 2019 that she would be dropping another album called Factory Baby (favorite song TBD). But, after some careful consideration surrounding her career and the messages she wants to send to the world, she decided that she would be taking a hiatus from music altogether. She found that her messages were hollow when landing on white ears who would not support her outside of her music. There is hope, though, that live performance may have saved the project from being forgotten and buried. After performing at Pitchfork Music Festival in 2022, Noname announced that her project would in fact be put into action and that she will be releasing it.

Noname’s repertoire is extensive, but mostly consists of features. The amount of songs she’s been featured on, versus the amount she has personally released, is an incredibly wide gap of difference. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, but it does explain a lot about who she is as an artist and the value of her Chicago sound that other artists clamor for at every opportunity. Her butter-smooth sound and ingenious lyrics bring a fuller sound to every song she takes part in, and we find more and more ways to be inspired by Noname and her intentions. She has proven that the integrity of her art is more important than anything to her and you can feel it in her sound. That’s what Chicago art is about. The intention behind her message and the lasting effect of her sound encompass everything that Chicago is.