Welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
I-I have to start with the question
that has been plaguing me, the people in the building,
and, like, random people I speak to about the show.
-Okay. -Your name, your rap name.
-Right. -No... Noname.
-Yes. -It confuses a lot of people.
-Mm-hmm. -Because they see "Noname,"
and then, people would be like, "Wait. Who's the guest?"
-(laughter) -And... and they'd be like... -Right.
"Why didn't you get the guest's name?"
-And I'm like, "No, it's Noname." -Yeah.
And they're like, "Yeah, but who's-who's the name?"
The name is me.
I am... I am the name. It's a really terrible name.
I couldn't think of anything...
clever like...
"Baby" or "Stallion" or whatever.
-Uh... I mean, I'm not... -But I feel like you were...
you were intentional with it.
It's... It feels like a little bit of who you are.
Like, you-you...
-You know, you're an independent artist. -Right.
You know, I've noticed, like, none of your clothing
I've ever seen has any labels or anything on it.
It... Is that, like, your vibe?
Except for Converse, but yes, yeah, I'm very...
-You're non-descript? -Very non-descript, very low-key.
Um...
try not to promote any brand outside of myself...
-Right. -because I know...
I know I'm not giving money to ICE
-and other things that people fund, so... -Right.
Um, yeah, it's-it's easier this way.
-It's, like, minimal, it's clean. -Uh-huh.
You compliment me. I-I like these things.
Oh, okay. Good.
No. I like...
I wonder if you're ever gonna have to be, like,
the artist know as "Noname," or, like, the...
If people... No, 'cause-'cause people are gonna be like,
"Noname." They're gonna be like, "We need, like, a bit of, uh,
-like, a thing ahead of it, you know?" -Yeah.
The rapper know as "Noname." Uh...
-The book reader. Noname. -Noname.
-Yeah. -Yes. That is an interesting aspect
of your journey that is completely unique.
-You're an independent artist, right? -Yes.
Before we go to the book, let's talk about that.
Has it become easier to become...
to be an independent artist in today's age
of, like, SoundCloud and everything?
Absolutely. I think
not so much SoundCloud anymore. Shouts out to SoundCloud.
-Y'all put me on it. Um... -(laughter)
But I think because of the Internet,
because of social media, it's a lot easier
if you can figure out a way to, uh, like,
galvanize people in your... in your local area
-and create a local fanbase. That's what I did. -Right.
Uh, extremely helpful.
Um, but, yeah,
you-you can directly contact your fan base,
and I think that's what helps the most for me.
Um, and what other reasons why...
Yeah, I think that's about it.
Social media, 'cause without social media,
I don't think it would be possible.
That's part of the reason you started your book club.
-Right. -Right?
It was a really organic beginning of a book club.
You were just reading a book.
Yeah, I was.
-And somebody tweeted you about it. -Right.
So I was reading-- I was reading this book, um,
called Cooperation Jackson, about, like, cooperatives,
um, specifically one in Jackson, Mississippi.
And someone tweeted me, like,
"Yo, let's be pen pals. I'm reading the same book."
And then I...
I was high, and I just-- I posted it and was like,
"Oh, my God, I should create a book club."
So, yeah, I, uh... (laughs)
-I created a book club. -(applause)
Um...
Thank you.
I-I smoke a lot of weed.
Um, but, no, yeah, so that's how it happened.
And I, like, I kind of polled it on my-- on my page
to see if people would be into it.
And I thought-- I think the re--
the-the tweet got, like, 5,000 retweets.
And I was like, "Okay, well, maybe,
maybe at least half of these people
will follow the account, but then...
thousands more were like, "Oh, my God, we like,
we like reading and we like rappers."
I feel like this is a beautiful journey for you to be on
because your mom has a history with books as well.
Like, a really intimate relationship with books, right?
She does, yeah.
She owned a bookstore in Chicago for 20 years.
Um, it was called Afro Central bookstore.
And so that's kind of how I grew up.
I grew up in a space around books,
even when I-when I, uh, like, transitioned
and I got older, I spent a lot of my time in a library.
That's where I, uh--
There's this program in this library called You Media,
and I was able to, um, start recording and rapping there.
But-but, yeah, no, she, uh--
Being in that space is kind of why I'm-I'm still doing it.
Like, it started as an impulse, but then, as I was going,
there were so many other reasons to keep it going.
Um, one thing that we're trying to do
is incentivize people to shop locally.
So, yes, you can participate in the book club online,
but we really encourage our readers
to shop at these, uh, POC-owned bookstores
that we have in our directory.
Um, so it's like, it's a little bit of a (bleep) you to Amazon,
and kind of a (bleep) you to, like,
-the FBI a little bit on some... -(laughing)
You know what I mean?
Well, no, like, uh...
Like, you know, COINTELPRO,
they-- what they, what they did
to, like, destroy black bookstores and shit, so...
-Right. So you're trying to invigorate... -So I'm like...
-Yeah. Let's bring it, let's bring it back. -Yes.
I mean, there was a... there was a, like, a wave
and-and, like, uh, I guess a newness
when it came to-to bookstore ownership
amongst, uh, African Americans in, like, the '90s.
-Mm-hmm. -Like, that's when my mom opened up her store,
and it was wildly successful because, um...
like, political rap was really in,
and people were very conscious,
and everyone was like, "We finna buy a kufi,
and we finna buy this-this, like, Cornel West or whatever."
Um, now it-it's like,
"We're just gonna order these things on Amazon."
Which is cool, but I think it's, like,
it's important to be in the space, you know?
Do you think that that's something that you feel like
rap needs to get a little bit more of again,
is just that idea of, like, reading being cool?
-Well, I think... -You know? 'Cause I remember, like,
when I was growing up, like, Tupac.
-I always knew that Tupac read. -Right.
It was, like, a thing that he always, like, spoke about.
-A lot. -And it felt like in rap,
there were a lot of rappers who were like,
"Oh, I read this, and I read this, and I know..."
And then there was a period of rap where it was like,
"Nah, man. It's all... it's all in the head, man.
-I don't read." -Yeah.
And it feels like now, maybe, you, you know,
you're part of a generation that's going like,
"No, no, we're coming back to reading again."
I would... I would even take a step further
and be like, it's not...
I wouldn't specifically put it on the culture.
Like, I don't think it's rappers.
I think generally people are just not reading.
-Interesting. -And I think specifically
there's been communities that have been targeted,
um, when it comes to, uh, the lack thereof.
Either bookstores
or schools that are actively, like, um...
allowing their kids to-to compete
-and to completely be literate. -Right.
I think most people in the communities
that I am in and that I come from,
um, they don't really have a choice because of the way
that their surrounding community is set up
when it comes to reading.
So, yes, it's kind of like, you know,
rappers are not necessarily promoting books,
but no one, I think, really is promoting books.
And that's why you're doing it now.
-Yeah, I'm... -Which is exciting.
-Yeah. -You got the book club,
-and you got the rap going. -(cheering and applause)
Right.
I feel like...
I feel like the perfect combination of all of this
is you need to start rapping the books
-or rapping the book club thing. -No. No.
-No? -I should just get your book and just, like...
-I'll take that, then. -♪ I was born a crime ♪
-♪ Now I'm Trevor Noah. ♪ -Yeah, see, I like that. Be like...
♪ Once upon a time. ♪
And then that's all I remember from the book for now,
-but I, uh... -That's-that's awful.
-I'll work on that. -No, yeah, yeah.
And you carry on with what you're doing.
You should... you should suggest a book,
'cause we do, like, we do, like, uh,
like, uh, Let the Homie Pick.
-So we have different people... -I will do that.
-Yeah. -I will be the homie that picks.
-Thank you so much for being on the show. -Absolutely.
-Thank you for having me. -Wonderful having you.
For more information about Noname's Book Club,
check out NonamesBook.com.
NonameBooks.com Noname, everybody.