Noname’s latest record Room 25 swept across the “best of 2018” lists, and – never one to leave us hanging too long – the Chicago rapper is starting the new year on a high with ‘Song 31’. Against a backdrop of soothing vocals and light-handed jazz percussion, Noname begins to set the world to rights with her signature style. In ‘Song 31’, Noname references selling out shows, as she has just done in her home city, but it’s bittersweet in some ways, as she highlights “I sell pain for profit”. Throughout she pinpoints cultural occurrences that in some way or another impact her life, such as increased of diversity representation on TV, capitalism’s stranglehold on Christmas, and losing friends and family to the prison system. It also seems too much to take in, and so for the last third of ‘Song 31’ the band take over with their soulful-jazz stroll and Poelix’s lulling voice, allowing all of Noname’s immense wisdom to soak in. - Hannah Thacker