Last year Chicago rapper Fatimah Warner, better known as Noname, explained to Greenroom magazine why she was going to call her forthcoming debut mixtape Telefone: “I like the idea of what it means to be on the phone with someone for the very first time and all its little intricate idiosyncrasies. From the awkwardness to the laughter or various intimate conversations you can have over the phone, I want my project to be very conversational.” Noname dropped Telefone on Sunday, during LCD Soundsystem’s headlining set on the last night of Lollapalooza.
Like many recent Chicago rap releases, Telefone practically sweats the city out of its pores. You don’t need to have met Brother Mike, who died in 2014, to relate to Noname’s brief eulogy for him on “Yesterday,” but her love for the late poet and rapper—who mentored a generation of Chicago artists—says a lot about what Chicago means to her. She sprinkles Telefone with youthful memories, whether uplifting or depressing, and balances her affection for her hometown with blunt descriptions of the hard realities that young people of color face daily. On the hook for “Casket Pretty” she raps, “All of my niggas is casket pretty / Ain’t no one safe in this happy city / I hope you make it home / I hope to God that my telly don’t ring.” A brief sample of a baby pops up occasionally throughout the song (echoed by the line “Too many babies in suits”), and it sounds like the baby could be giggling or about to cry.
