I just published an article about 15 minutes ago but I felt compelled to write another one because this song blew me away.
So, a brief synopsis. J Cole dropped a song called ‘Snow on Tha Bluff‘ which is allegedly a Noname diss track (she isn’t explicitly named but there are hints suggested it’s about her). He doubled down on his misogynoir “I’m a thinker” crap with a series of tweets (Vulture wrote a more eloquent version of events) and even Chance the Rapper had to tell him that wasn’t it.
But this isn’t about them. This is about Noname.
Song 33 dropped tonight with a minimal cover but an incredible name on it: Madlib. That set the tone before I even pressed play. And Noname bodied the entire track after I did.
The song opens with a vocal sample saying “Oh, I have ambitions… dreams… but dreams don’t come cheap” and Noname starts spraying her flamethrower from the get-go with this impeccable line:
I saw a demon on my shoulder,
It’s looking like patriarchy.
Noname – Song 33
And the fire continues as the rapper addresses the deaths of Oluwatoyin Salau, George Floyd, and Black trans women, and all the men up in their egos about her words and motives. And although J Cole wasn’t mentioned explicitly in her bars, it doesn’t take a detective to see who the primary target was.
The beat is secondary to the intention and rhymes from Noname but I’d be remiss if I didn’t compliment it; a dope drum loop over an ethereal melody and smooth bassline. And it’s only 70 seconds long. How can you fit so much power into a minute and 10 seconds?
As I said on Twitter, Black women stay winning forever and ever AMEN.
Stream it below and remember Black Lives Matter.