Telefone

Funny, flirty, honest, thought provoking, intelligent hip-hop, from an artist I had previously heard exactly one song by (and it's not on this album) - I will be rectifying that imminently however! Covers a huge range of topics, and just an absolute joy. Thank you so much to whoever nominated this - I hope she makes it into the next edition of the book!

Very interesting, though it felt to me like someone in the process of becoming something. Not quite fully formed, and musically a little sparse and uniform. Super strong debut though and Im curious where this artist has gone with it.

Loved it, immediately looked her up and she's playing close by so booked concert tickets to see her live. Feels like what Hip-hop was poised to evolve into with Missy & Kanye but never fully materialised. chilled but funky, great album.

Loved it.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Diddy bop, All I need, Bye bye baby, Shadow man

Totally clueless of who this was, I was surprised how I liked this kind of slow hiphop.

Kind of nice smooth backgrounds. Not totally something I am into but I appreciated it.

June 18, 2025 HL: “Yesterday”, “Diddy Bop”, “All I Need”, “Casket Pretty”, “Forever” Starts out reminiscent of Chance the Rapper’s Acid Rap with the gospel-y “Yesterday”, then moves to a gentler, woozier sound that compliments Noname’s half-sung/half-rapped flow. Chose to listen to this walking through the park, and it whizzed by so fast it warranted a second listen. Aside from her feature in the aforementioned Acid Rap, this is an artist that has stayed off my radar, so I appreciate whoever submitted this album. Especially since this is, like, the first hiphop album I’ve discovered from this list in 3 months

I rather enjoyed this. Won't ever listen to it again, like, but glad that I heard it once.

Hip hop, jazz rap, conscious hip hop, neo soul. Ni fu ni fa.

Smooth

Nice hip hop album. Smooth and relaxed with a great vibe.

I remember when this came out back when would still follow popular music releases. This was a solid album of conscious hip hop by a female. The production of the lofi jazzy beats with the nostalgic lyricism was a stark contrast to the popular female rapping of Cardi B. In 2016 this was a breath of fresh air. It’s still a really good album but not as amazing when I first heard it. 7.2/10

No

This was some chill hip-hop that played while I listened

I really liked the chill dreamy bedroom beats and I think the lyrics were there but man I just don’t think this lady had any consistent flow. Features were also really good.

This flavor of "chill" hip hop normally puts me to sleep, but I did like the amount of plinky keyboard sounds in the mix. Made it good for the rainy morning.

This was really good. Clever lyrics, chill vibe. Fave Songs: Sunny Duet, Yesterday, Bye Bye Baby

Slick album

Pretty good

The Diddy Bop probably has a very different meaning in 2025…

If this was a "meh" contest this would get a 5/5. But it's not. 2/5.

I didn't really enjoy Telefone , it's too chilled or laid back for my wants from the rap/hip hop genre like I've said before, it's too moody, her flow is okay but derivative, lots of clichéd lines borrowed or inspired from others, just not for me. Diddy Bop and All I Need had moments of potential but just a 2/5.

Starts off strong with some great lo-fi beats and lyricism, but somewhere along the way Noname starts to get crowded out of her own album – the guest features seem to mostly interrupt the solid flows she has going, and the whole thing begins to feel crowded, more group poetry night than the strong individual statement this LP could have been.

An album-long flow Pretty good, nothing was unbearable Been wanting to listen to it for a long time, Personally wouldn't play any of these tracks by themselves though - kind of just - lost int erest 2

Started off okay but the longer it went on the more she was getting on my tits