- Chicago’s reputation for violence and gun crime has done interesting things to its hip-hop scene. On one side you have the gritty drill music, with rappers like Chief Keef attempting to soundtrack the city's dark underbelly. Then there’s the new wave of conscious rappers, who preach positivity and optimism in the face of oppression.
Noname falls firmly into the latter camp, first gaining attention through features with Chicago alumni Chance The Rapper and Mick Jenkins. This attention culminated in 2016’s Telefone mixtape. A project that seemed to come out of nowhere, earning Noname thousands of new fans thanks to her unique attitude and welcome approach to conscious hip-hop.
Room 25 builds upon the groundwork that Telefone laid down, with production following in the same jazzy and soulful vein. Live instrumentation plays an increased role, with many tracks leaning on an acoustic backbone. This does mean things can get a bit samey, but never annoying or unpleasant. Harmonised backing vocals pop up repeatedly as well, contributing to a lush and organic atmosphere that’s maintained throughout.
This foundation allows for Noname to be refreshingly honest, filling each verse with charming quotables delivered entirely without conceit. In an age of million-dollar production budgets and tracklists packed with A-list features, it’s rare to find an album this consistently intimate. A quality that’s only improved by Room 25’s unusual mixing, which places Noname front and center of each track, making it easy to appreciate the subtleties in her delivery.
Compared to Telefone, Noname’s rapping here has improved by leaps and bounds. Spoken word and poetry are still a strong point of reference, but intricately woven into this framework are complex flow patterns and constant stylistic switch-ups, in complete contrast to the laid back beats. She’s in top form lyrically too, further diversifying the topics and subject matter covered in each song. While this sometimes makes Room 25 feel a bit scatterbrained, it’s undeniably entertaining too. You can almost hear Noname smirking as she quips about her pussy teaching ninth grade English, or a love for vegan food.
If that sounds a bit childish, don't worry, these moments of wry comedy are completely balanced out by some pleasantly mature and multi-faceted subject matter. Window deals with unconditional love in a one-sided relationship, while Don’t Forget About Me offers hard-hitting observations on the ideas of death, ego, and legacy. From front to back, Noname’s writing is incredibly mature and authentic, allowing her to completely sidestep many of the played out tropes so often found in conscious rap, just by being herself.
While it’s not my usual cup of tea, Room 25 presents an undeniably charming and sincere take on Chicago’s modern jazz-rap sound. Although nothing here comes across as particularly unexpected for Noname, it’s still great to see her mature as an artist. If you like your hip-hop optimistic, warm, and full of personality, then this album is for you.
- Boddhi Farmer.