Album Review: Noname – Sundial

By Rosie Burgess | December 9, 2023

Words by Binki Elsbury

On Sundial, Noname is making a conscious effort to disassociate from the white liberal audience that uses the music to make sense of privilege. She’s been making her dissatisfaction with what she would call black ‘trauma porn’ for white people clear in the press for some time now, releasing Sundial to start artistically afresh. The album’s black mirror opener reflects the current state of hip-hop as Noname sees it and speaks directly to both the ‘white voyeur’ and the rappers profiting from feeding this frenzied crowd. A solid introduction to the record, Noname sets up the album’s thread: what came first, the chicken or the egg? How can hip-hop be more radical because something’s not working? 

This all culminates towards Chicago-legend Common’s feature on oblivion, which is more than just a standard co-sign, with Noname’s motif ‘I’ma talk my shit into oblivion’ suggesting Noname is more than just hype and a good sound bite – she lives her words. 

This combination of autobiographical storytelling and social critique is best heard on beauty supply, a tender and heartfelt examination of the complex relationship between black beauty businesses and euro-centric standards of hair.  A shift in tone, both musically and lyrically, it’s the first time I hear Noname becoming the subject of her bars, an introspective register we became accustomed to on her previous projects, Telephone and Room 25. This track is the human centre of an album that otherwise would have felt equal parts manifesto and equal parts hip-hop.

7/10