Noname has shared more details about her upcoming album, which now looks set to be released despite previously insinuating that she might cancel it.
After announcing her sophomore studio LP one year ago, the 31-year-old MC took to Instagram on Thursday (July 20) to reveal the tracklist of Sundial. The 11-track project is scheduled to drop on August 11 and will feature Common, Jay Electronica and Eryn Allen Kane, among others.
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“I was going to release the single balloons tomorrow but i’d rather share it with the rest of the album. see y’all in a few weeks :),” Noname captioned her post.
Check out the album’s tracklisting below:
Noname’s breakthrough mixtape, Telefone, was released in 2016. Two years later, she released her debut studio album, Room 25, also to critical acclaim. It has been five years since she’s released a full body of work.
The Chicago rapper recently sat down with The New York Times to discuss her influences for a piece celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop.
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“In terms of song structure, I was really inspired by Kanye West, Common, Lupe Fiasco and Mos Def,” she revealed. “That type of rap where there can be messaging and maybe some political themes, but the song is pretty standard in terms of hooks and bridges. A lot of sung choruses, that kind of a thing. I tend to like writing hooks that are catchy. I really like catchy-sounding production with thoughtful lyricism. That’s what I tend to gravitate to.”
Elaborating further, she added: “And then when I wanted my songs to be a little more deconstructed, Jay Electronica and Earl Sweatshirt. ‘Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge),’ that tape from Jay, I’ve never heard a rap album sound like that, or someone attempt to rap to a movie score. That was very eye-opening to me, in terms of what the genre could do.”
The “self” spitter recently faced backlash for working with Jay Electronica, who has a history of making antisemitic comments. However, Noname fired back at the “woke mob” for the criticism she’s received the collaboration and even threatened to cancel the release of her upcoming album.
In a series of Tweets from her since-deleted account posted on Friday (July 14), she hit back at critics who dared to take her to task for “Balloons,” the song featuring the controversial rapper.
“N-ggas legit rap about actual murder and sexual assault that they commit in real life and y’all can’t take a jay elect verse?” she wrote in one tweet. “please drink water and be safe out here [praying hands emoji] i’ll see y’all when my album drop in a few weeks. sending love and prayers.”
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In another, she wrote: “Been seeing a lot of critiques about my choice to include jay on my song. if you disagree with his political and religious beliefs that’s fine. but to compare him to hitler? a man responsible for the extermination of millions is wild as fuck to me. it’s truly not that deep.”
When the pressure got too intense, Noname threatened to withhold her long-awaited album. “Oh the song fa sho coming out lol. the album is another story. i’m good on the selective outrage. anyways Hip Hop is in a great place right now. another noname album ain’t really necessary,” she wrote.
