Chicago’s Noname a star in the making
Rapper engages sold-out crowd
You could call it the Chance the Rapper ripple effect. The Chicago hip-hop star has become so huge, the artists in his inner circle are riding their own waves of success. You could see it manifested at the Miramar Theatre on Saturday, when Noname performed for about 400 people, at a show that’s been sold out for several weeks.
But as the venues inevitably become bigger, it’ll be because Noname is making a name for herself as an engaging rapper with her own absorbing vision and voice.
Born Fatimah Warner, the 25-year-old Noname has known Chance since they were teenagers. She broke out with a verse on Chance’s career-launching mixtape “Acid Rap” in 2013 that Chance said was the best guest verse he ever received. Noname did spots on Chance’s “Coloring Book” and Chicago up-and-comer Mick Jenkins’ “The Water[s]” mixtape ahead of dropping her acclaimed mixtape “Telefone” last July.
Noname notably didn’t call in a favor from Chance for “Telefone,” but his influence was evident at the Miramar show, from a similarly plainspoken flow (the cadence, at times, reflecting her slam poetry origins), to the feel-good, gospel-indebted production, presented in concert by a sixpiece backing band. But Noname’s bubbly sound is less refined, and smaller in scope, than Chance’s musical statements, creating a more intimate atmosphere that lets her carefully crafted, poetic phrasing — endearingly optimistic in one instance, disheartening the next — lead the way.
Noname’s verses inherently have their own charisma — the majority of concert-goers were eager to shout along from the start Saturday. But her smiling stage presence enhanced the joy of nostalgic, summer-kissed “Diddy Bop” (“Ice cream on my front porch in my new FUBU and my A1’s too/Watching my happy block/ The whole neighborhood hit the diddy bop”), before she playfully sported a glittery red cape and rose-colored sunglasses for the funny calland-response to the Isley Brothers’ outlandish “Contagious.”
Those rose-colored glasses appropriately came off though for “Casket Pretty,” one of the most quietly shattering reflections of Chicago’s recent homicide epidemic. In concert, Noname created a chilling effect, dropping somber lines like, “Ain’t no one safe in this happy city/I hope you make it home/I hope to God that my tele don’t ring,” over fragile production slightly reminiscent of a music box. That bleak, sadly relatable perspective continued on show-closer “Yesterday,” with Noname casually suggesting she’d “Check my Twitter page for something holier than black death.”
Yet later in the song comes hope, from Noname’s late grandmother. “Don’t grow up too soon,” Noname quoted her in concert, the music dropping to silence. “Don’t blow the candles out.”
That inspiring uplift, atop Noname’s other talents, suggests she’ll be burning brightly for some time to come.
Another promising Chicago up-and-comer, R&B artist Ravyn Lenae, opened Saturday’s concert and showed up for her guest verse to Noname’s “Forever.”
There’s a sense of spontaneity and fluidity to Lenae’s verses, sung from the perspective of a smart young woman discovering life. The flirty “Greetings” was a standout example, encapsulating the infatuated early conversations between two would-be lovers, jumping rapidly across topics like vacations and learning to whistle. But as a performer, Lenae already has the self-confidence, and vocal prowess, to go far.
Local singer Siren revealed her grandmother died on Friday, but it didn’t diminish her firecracker spirit or vocal finesse. If anything, the alternative soul artist suggested it inspired her to make the most of life. Singing dark but empowering originals like “Priestess” and backed by a funky jazz foursome, Siren’s set exuberantly put that philosophy into practice.