Less than a year after first gracing our shores touring her debut album ‘Telefone’, Noname is back in Australia, this time slipping back onto the stage to share her second album, ‘Room 25’. We were lucky enough to catch the Sydney leg of her ‘Telefone’ tour last year, when the Chicago (née Fatimah Nyeema Warner) rapper blew all expectations out of the water with her electric performance and imitable energy. She was an independent artist and she only had one album under her belt, but she commanded the stage with the wisdom and maturity of someone that had been in the game for years. Purposely unnamed, she was shrouded in a curious mystery; the only glimpses we got of her were features on fellow Chicagoan Chance the Rapper’s ‘Acid Rap’ and ‘Coloring Book’ records.
Canberra native Genesis Owusu got things rolling with a performance that was all fire from start to finish with an infallible energy and distinct sound. He’s been kicking around the Australian hip hop scene recently with his name often coming up as one to watch, and with good reason. The young rapper is quickly cementing himself front and centre of the Australian music scene as an artist who’s not only extremely talented when it comes to weaving together rhymes, but who has something so gritty and raw about him that you can’t really take your eyes off him.
“At the heart of the inherently poetic artist lies an imperfect human who is just doing her best to get through all the bullshit in the world.”
By the time Noname emerged, the crowd was buzzing. Once again, her stage persona diverged wildly from what you’d expect after listening to her lyrics. Her raps reveal her to be someone who is deeply introspective, self-aware, and questioning of every facet of the world we live in, but she’s also a young woman who fucks up and likes to have fun, and she isn’t trying to hide it. Listening to the bleak world that Noname’s raps paint, it’s easy to get lost in feelings about the injustices and pitfalls of life, but she’s quick to remind us that there’s also something really beautiful about throwing caution to the wind and just doing what feels good.
One song in and she reflected, “I had sex for the first time and I was like, ‘Oh my god, dick is so amazing. I’m gonna write a whole album about it!’ Sorry ya’ll who thought ‘I love Noname, she’s so PG’, and I’m here like ‘I love sucking dick!’” Noname is enigmatic and a play in paradoxes, simultaneously in tune with every piece of the world around her, yet somehow transcending it. But, amplified in a live setting, her songs reminded us that at the heart of the inherently poetic artist lies an imperfect human who is just doing her best to get through all the bullshit in the world.
The set wove in an out of old and new tracks at a buzzing tempo that never let up, showing off the rapper’s undeniable talent, and challenging all with lines like, “You really though a bitch couldn’t rap, huh?” The jazz roots that ‘Telefone’ hinted at are fully fledged-out in ‘Room 25′, and translated into a live show it was explosive, synthesising rap, hip hop, soul, and jazz into a distinctly Noname-esque genre. She let go of the reins as the end notes of “Freedom (Interlude)” rang through the room, only for the band to take over in a battle of beats, basslines, and whirring harmonies in true jazz style.
Noname’s ability to connect with an audience is faultless. Much like her music, she’s humble and without pretence, but she has a punch to her that intrigues and keeps you waiting for what’s going to happen next. She commanded the room with more sombre tracks like “Don’t Forget About Me” and “Bye Bye Baby”, before seamlessly sliding the mood up again, mashing up songs, even slipping in old verses from her features with Mick Jenkins and Chance on “Comfortable” and “Finish Line / Drown”. She ran the show at a constant simmer, and right when things seemed like they were about to boil over, she brought the heat down again.
Closing out with Saba, Smino, and Phoelix-assisted cut “Shadow Man”, then following it up with meditative track “Yesterday” for the encore, Noname brought it all full circle. It’s been two years since she debuted ‘Telefone’ with “Yesterday” as the opening track, and it’s only fitting now that she’d close out with it — halfway across the world, older, wiser, a little more hardened, but still somehow hopeful.
Photos by Lars Roy.