Noname has finally released her second studio album, Sundial. Stream the record below.
Sundial is the proper follow-up to Noname’s 2018 debut LP, Room 25, which Consequence named as one of the top albums of the 2010s. Originally, the 31-year-old rapper was going to release a record entitled Factory Baby in 2019, but she scrapped that album, writing on social media at the time that she may quit music altogether.
Thankfully, she didn’t follow through on that threat, and we get to finally dive into the world of Sundial. Spanning 10 tracks and running just over 30 minutes, the new record is lined with powerful themes and lush with features, including appearances from billy woods, Common, Jay Electronica, Eryn Allen Kane, Jimetta Rose, The Voices of Creation, Ayoni, $ilkMoney, and STOUT.
Noname first announced the album last month, and planned on releasing “balloons” as a single, but changed her mind, writing that she’d “rather share it with the rest of the album.” Prior to that decision, she had received minor backlash from folks who were critical of the Jay Electronica feature on the track, due to his affiliation with Nation of Islam. Taking to Twitter, she threatened to sentence Sundial to a similar fate Factory Baby had, writing “Y’all don’t want the album. Fine.”
Expanding even more, she wrote “Hip-hop is in a great place right now. Another Noname album ain’t really necessary.” Once again, though, we can be grateful that Noname’s threats were just threats and nothing more — now, Sundial has finally arrived. Stream the album below.
Though it’s been half a decade since Room 25, Noname hasn’t been sitting idle. She’s released a few one-off singles, like the Madlib-produced “Song 33,” which served as a response track to J Cole’s “Snow On Tha Bluff.” She also founded her book club, which has spotlighted Black authors and provided a platform for folks to read and discuss important texts on community empowerment and organizing.
With local chapters meeting nationwide, the book club is still going strong, and will even receive a boost in donations thanks to the upcoming Sundial release show. On August 17th, Noname will host the “Sundial Block Party” in Chicago, which will also act as a collection drive for books that the club can then send to its incarcerated members. Check out the details for that show here, and stream Noname’s new album Sundial below.
Sundial Artwork:
Sundial Tracklist:
01. black mirror
02. hold me down (feat. Jimetta Rose and The Voices of Creation)
03. balloons (feat. Jay Electronica and Eryn Allen Kane)
04. boom boom (feat. Ayoni)
05. potentially the interlude
06. namesake
07. beauty supply
08. toxic afro futurism
09. oblivion (feat. Ayoni and Common)
10. gospel? (feat. $ilkMoney, billy woods, and STOUT)
