Noname - Room 25

Noname
Room 25
2018
Spotify

Critics are often really quick to jump on board with a female rapper. Sometimes, just that fact alone is enough for the "greatest of all time" sayings to start flying around. The truth is tpyically in the middle somewhere, but with Noname they might be right. Her debut record Telefone was a beautifully articulated thought on the modern young woman. The trials and struggles to be not only a young african american woman, but trying to make it in the overtly masculine world of hip hop. Noname has always had to transcend, and she does once again on this new record Room 25. Now 27 Noname feels far more confident, yet through that confidence she is able to share her insecurities. "Blaxploitation" lays it out there, coming to terms with the ideas of exploitation that are still happening today. She has a very similar delivery to Change the Rapper, able to switch up her flow style and intonation to wiggle around each and every song. Her previous album felt like at times it was shrinking away, saying things quietly and plainly, but on Room 25 that fear is gone. She goes anywhere and everwhere to make her points, throwing a ton of words at you, but each one has some kind of meaning. There are strong neo-soul and funky vibes throughout the record, a perfect bed for Noname's almost spoken word style. She amps up the drama and the emotion not through hitting high notes, but through allowing the words to be just exactly what the song is looking for, it creates a really magical experience.

When she asks "why?" a lover no longer talks to her on "Window" and hopes people won't forget about her on "Don't Forget About Me" as her career and status in the world and postulates "at the end is love". ONe of the most powerful things about this record is how Noname is able to take her insecurities and instead of them being a negative she presents them as opportunities to learn. The thing that is really great about Noname's more politically charged statements is that they don't feel like lecturing, or like she has ALL the answers. Noname is trying to figure out what it means to be alive just like everyone else and allows space for getting it wrong. Adult thinking and songs you can actually enjoy make Room 25 one of the best hip hop records this year. The features more or less shrink away on this record, Noname's voice just feels to unique on it's own and you want to hear more from her rather than more form someone else. Room 25 could have fallen into some weird areas, too much jazz, too much soul, not edgy enough but it those exact reasons why this album soars. Noname asked you to listen to her on Telefone now she's demanding it.

9.0 out of 10