Noname - Telefone
Critic Score
Based on 9 reviews
2016 Ratings: #91 / 1004
Year End Rank: #44
User Score
2016 Rank: #69
Liked by 212 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

91
A.V. Club

While she may not aspire to such award-ceremony heights, Telefone is a unique project that points to even greater things for Noname in the future.

83
Consequence of Sound

Telefone shows a great sense of promise and complex beauty, Noname using her art to salve wounds — both her own and others.

80
Pitchfork

On Telefone, she pours all the joy and devastation we glimpsed in her various guest spots with artists like Chance, Mick Jenkins, and Saba into a rich, somber, and incredibly intimate album.

80
DIY
With that same steely determination injected into every track, ‘Telefone’ ensures that Noname won’t be anonymous much longer.
80
The Needle Drop
Chicago's Noname delivers one of this year's most heartwarming and positive mixtapes, backing her earnest rap style with beautifully jazzy instrumentals.
75
The 405

this very specific choice of sound contributes to the project's constant tiptoeing between trauma and calm, violence and peace, life and death - Telefone grows on you progressively, going from easily enjoyable to hauntingly beautiful.

70
Rolling Stone

Noname unfurls thoughts about a life where love and freedom are in the distance and too many friends are "casket-pretty." It's some of the year's most thought-provoking hip-hop.

BuffaloStaple
90

This tape did for me what coloring book seemed to do for everyone else, some of the most blissful and summery hip-hop i've heard in a while, it's a total grower too.

EDIT: honestly there is so little wrong with this tape, it's all just so fucking lovely.

BradTasteMusic
89

wow... thank you BuffaloStaple. This is a fantastic post-TPAB project that gives me so many Erykah Badu vibes. Fantastic instrumentals, flows, and poetry

ST4T1C
95

This album is like a warm hug after a shitty day at work in the rain.

It is one of the most heartfelt, jazzy, and adorable projects I've heard in a looooong time. Songs like "Diddy Bop" and "Reality Check" just put the biggest smile on my face with how positive and heartwarming it is. Not to mention the production is fucking amazing. Arguably one of the best produced conscious hip hop albums I've heard post-TPAB. Not a single bad moment on this album that made me cringe or ... read more

PsychIron
84

This is a whole vibe. I love Noname's delivery throughout this whole project as well as the lyrics which I actually somewhat related to. I also forsee me bumping Shadow Man a ton after this. Great album from a great rapper

90

Nothing bad to say about the album.

DannyBrownLover
80

i like this

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Track List

1Yesterday
3:09
89
2Sunny Duet
2:42
feat. TheMIND
84
3Diddy Bop
3:28
92
4All I Need
4:00
80
5Reality Check
3:03
87
6Freedom Interlude
3:19
79
7Casket Pretty
1:50
82
8Forever
3:38
86
9Bye Bye Baby
2:49
83
10Shadow Man
5:11
92
Total Length: 33 minutes
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Added on: August 1, 2016